“‘It goes without saying, I believe that if we understood ourselves better, we would damage ourselves less’,” stated Dr. Anthony Abraham Jack, reciting the work of James Baldwin.
On Jan. 30, Jack visited UVM to give the keynote lecture at the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Celebration.
Jack spoke at the Ira Allen Chapel to an audience of students, faculty and community members. The annual celebration is hosted by the UVM Division of Inclusive Excellence whose goal is to promote a sense of belonging on campus.
The lecture, titled “Class Dismissed: When Colleges Ignore Inequality and Students Pay the Price,” highlighted Jack’s research on the overlooked challenges facing lower-income undergraduates.
Jack drew on his experiences as a first-generation college student at Harvard University to explain the class disparities on college campuses and how they affect a student’s education and career outlook.
“Colleges are focusing on ‘high-performing’ students from lower classes and racial minorities, but aren’t addressing other gaps in education,” said Jack.
His argument centered on the idea that generational knowledge perpetuates class segregation and inequity. First-generation and minority students face barriers to earning the same opportunities as their classmates who grew up privileged and were taught the “unwritten rules” of college.
Jack added that this class disparity is perpetuated throughout the collegiate experience. There is an unequal proportion of minority students taking jobs considered less desirable to their classmates, many of whom have the privilege of choosing to work.
Students who don’t have to be formally employed to support themselves can afford to work in low-paying labs, do research or take unpaid internship positions.
Jack argued that if colleges want to expand their demographics to promote real equality, they need to support a diverse class.
“But without understanding the inequities that shape every facet of college life, you will never be able to live a directive— not in good times and definitely not in bad,” he said.
As the lecture concluded, Jack called the audience to action, specifically the faculty in attendance.
“So as you go back to your office, armed with the conversation that we are having here today, remember that in the years to come, students will note not what was written on the e-books, in the postcards, and on jumbotrons, but they remember how they felt walking around these hallowed halls,” he said.
At the conclusion of his speech, Jack used a verse from 1 Corinthians 15:58 — quoting scripture as King frequently did — to urge the audience to act in favor of equality and equity.
“And with that charge be steadfast, unmoved, always about linear pursuit of what is not only equitable but what is true and just,” he said.
