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Cover image of LGBTQ Leadership in Higher Education
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LGBTQ Leadership in Higher Education

edited by Raymond E. Crossman

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Why does queer leadership matter? In this book, the first of its kind, 15 LGBTQ presidents and chancellors in higher education provide insight into their experiences and highlight the importance of queer leadership for the academy and the world.

Prior to this century, there were few known gay or lesbian presidents in North American higher education. Mary Emma Wooley, president of Mount Holyoke College from 1901 to 1937, is documented because her life on campus with her partner, Jeanette Marks, is described in their love letters, which have been recently curated. Jacquelyn A. Mattfeld, president...

Why does queer leadership matter? In this book, the first of its kind, 15 LGBTQ presidents and chancellors in higher education provide insight into their experiences and highlight the importance of queer leadership for the academy and the world.

Prior to this century, there were few known gay or lesbian presidents in North American higher education. Mary Emma Wooley, president of Mount Holyoke College from 1901 to 1937, is documented because her life on campus with her partner, Jeanette Marks, is described in their love letters, which have been recently curated. Jacquelyn A. Mattfeld, president of Barnard College from 1976 to 1980, rarely receives recognition for braving sexism, heterosexism, and homophobia during her presidency. Theodora J. Kalikow, president of University of Maine Farmington from 1994 to 2012, bridges the few early examples to the era of contributors to this volume.

In LGBTQ Leadership in Higher Education, Raymond Crossman brings together 15 currently serving or retired LGBTQ presidents and chancellors in higher education to explain why, to whom, and how LGBTQ leadership matters. Writing from the perspective of their lived and specific experiences as LGBTQ presidents, these current and former leaders consider whether there is something distinctive about LGBTQ leadership. They also attempt to draw insights and principles from their personal stories. In addition, the book considers a profound question: Is being queer a superpower for these leaders, something they manage as part of their intersectional identities, or is it just another attribute of accomplished leaders?

In essays ranging across 12 topics, including intersectionality, mentorship, feminism, self-care, coming out, heteronormativity, and partners and spouses, the authors address why LGBTQ leadership matters at this moment, and more broadly, why diversity, inclusion, and equity in leadership are important to meet today's challenges for higher education and human rights. The first book on this topic, LGBTQ Leadership in Higher Education simultaneously archives a moment that is the forerunner to new, enormous, and necessary evolutions in the practice of leadership.

Contributors: Terry L. Allison, Peggy Apple, Nancy "Rusty" Barceló, Raymond E. Crossman, Erika Endrijonas, James Gandre, Richard J. Helldobler, Susan E. Henking, Ralph J. Hexter, Theodora J. Kalikow, Daniel López, Jr., Charles R. Middleton, DeRionne Pollard, Katherine Hancock Ragsdale, Regina Stanback Stroud, Boris Thomas, Karen M. Whitney

Reviews

Reviews

LGBTQ Leadership in Higher Education's greatest value is its documentation of LGBTQ+ leadership voices and experiences. The collection of experiences and viewpoints is important to the recognition of LGBTQ+ leaders and is a vital resource to especially prospective leaders.

For LGBTQ individuals, this intimate and inspirational quality of the text is what makes it such a generative tool for learning. For others, I imagine it will be illuminating in the ways it speaks to things outside their realm of experience, aspects of identity they've never considered, and most importantly, the ways they may unwittingly be upholding systems of oppression.

This is a book whose time has come. Once there were only a handful of openly LGBTQ college and university presidents. Now that numbers have grown and continue to grow, it is important to learn from one another's stories and to share them more broadly. This collection offers wisdom and solidarity. Pass it along.

LGBTQ Leadership in Higher Education offers provocative and thoughtful reflections on what it means to be a gay leader in higher education, how position intersects with identity to create both challenges and opportunities. It's an authentic and moving book.

This is a moving and timely anthology that lets us understand both the personal struggles and political visions of LGBTQ presidents of diverse colleges and universities. This collection insists that LGBTQ presidents enjoy privilege and bear responsibility toward a community whose lives are often marginalized and imperiled. The reflections here document their continuing commitment to support LGBTQ communities who have every right to flourish without fear of discrimination and violence.

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About

Book Details

Publication Date
Status
Available
Trim Size
5.5
x
8.5
Pages
200
ISBN
9781421444079
Table of Contents

Preface, by Charles R. Middleton
Introduction
Raymond E. Crossman
1. Identifying LGBTQ Leadership
Erika Endrijonas • Karen Whitney • Raymond E. Crossman
2. Feminist Leadership
Katherine Hancock Ragsdale •

Preface, by Charles R. Middleton
Introduction
Raymond E. Crossman
1. Identifying LGBTQ Leadership
Erika Endrijonas • Karen Whitney • Raymond E. Crossman
2. Feminist Leadership
Katherine Hancock Ragsdale • Terry L. Allison • Erika Endrijonas
3. Intersectionality and Leadership
DeRionne Pollard • Raymond E. Crossman • Nancy "Rusty" Barceló
4. Coming Out and Being Out
Ralph J. Hexter • James Gandre • Regina Stanback Stroud
5. Leading Inclusion on the Campus
Regina Stanback Stroud • Erika Endrijonas • Daniel López, Jr.
6. Leading in a Heteronormative/Heterosexist World
Raymond E. Crossman • Richard J. Helldobler • Theodora J. Kalikow
7. Leading in a Homophobic World
Terry L. Allison • Karen Whitney • Susan E. Henking
8. Mentorship
Theodora J. Kalikow • Richard J. Helldobler • Terry L. Allison
9. Self-Care
James Gandre • Katherine Hancock Ragsdale • Theodora J. Kalikow
10. Presidents and Partners
Ralph J. Hexter • James Gandre and Boris Thomas • Karen Whitney and Peggy Apple
11. Becoming a LGBTQ President or Leader
Karen Whitney • James Gandre • Katherine Hancock Ragsdale

12. The Future of the LGBTQ Presidency and Leadership
Ralph J. Hexter
Contributors
Index

Author Bio
Raymond E. Crossman
Featured Contributor

Raymond E. Crossman

Raymond E. Crossman (CHICAGO, IL) is a social justice activist, educator, and psychologist who is currently the longest-serving LGBTQ university president in North America. He was appointed president of Adler University in 2003.