Week 1

Savannah Keyse
Section 2
Week 1

In the article, "Fight the Tower," Professor Caroline Valverde divulges her own struggles in obtaining tenure and her constant fight against discrimination in academia. Valverde begins the article recounting a traumatic experience of becoming hospitalized and being presumed dead then further assumed to have a poor quality of life once she was resuscitated; yet miraculously Valverde recovered and began to fight against the oppression of women of color in academia. Valverde continues the article recounting the steps and processes she took to obtain tenure but she also reveals the intense bullying and prejudice used against her to make her progress more difficult. Professor Valverde explains that she was discriminated against due to her Vietnamese and immigrant background, her diagnosis of ADHD, her being a mother and for being pregnant at the time she began the tenure track, and countless other factors that are normal for some, but specific problems that prohibit promotion in women of color.

The fact that women of color are systematically oppressed in the work place is actively being fought against, but the notion that this oppression is prevalent to this degree in a field of scholars is shocking. Through many of Professor Valverde's attempts to be equals of those in her field she was bullied, dismissed and mobbed, like many of the other women of color in her field, creating an environment of physical and mental abuse. Valverde's use of this article and her story to call attention to this discrimination is overwhelmingly helpful for those who are oppressed at work and those who wish to see equality for women of color and others who are treated unfairly. The call to action that Valverde gives is particularly powerful because it provides individuals with the same experiences helpful ways to reduced the discrimination they experience. I think this article allows women of color to feel empowered and part of a group.

Question: How can students or faculty members fight and advocate for more diversity in the instructing staff?



Photo: Krause, J. (2014, May 27). Retrieved April 5, 2017, from http://www.chronicle.com/article/A-Black-Female-Professor/146739

Valverde, C. (2013). "Fight the Tower: A Call To Action For Women Of Color In Academia" Seattle Journal for Social Justice. 12(2): 367-418