Deconstructing Race
Transformative Research in Higher Education By Jennie Kroeger
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When Beatty first arrived at Indiana University, he had plans to be an accountant, but soon felt pulled in a different direction. He switched gears and changed his major to sociology. As an undergraduate student, he assumed a number of leadership roles. He served as the president of his fraternity and was president of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, the govDr. Cameron Beatty erning body for historically Black Greek letter organizations. also worked in financial aid. While working With this increased attention on issues of race and equity, many colleges and universi- During this time at Indiana University, the with this population, he decided to pursue his ties around the country have begun conver- campus was experiencing budget cuts. One master’s degree in student affairs. sations about what diversity and inclusion of the first things that was rumored to be cut Eager to dive deeper into higher educawas the African American Cultural Center Li- tion, Beatty headed for Iowa State where he means for their campuses. brary on campus. earned his doctorate in higher education adBut for Cameron Beatty, assistant professor of higher education at Florida State Universi- “The black student union president called ministration. He worked full-time in fraternity, his dedication to this work began long be- me and said, ‘Cameron, you’ve got to get the ty and sorority life advising, historically Black Greek letter organizations and multicultural Black Greeks together.’” fore he entered into academia. Greek organizations. After completing his deBeatty was born and raised in Indianapolis, Beatty sprang into action and organized a sitgree, he stayed on as the coordinator for the Indiana in a Black Catholic parish. It wasn’t in at the library, as well as a march to the main undergraduate leadership studies program until he began high school at a predominant- library. While there, Beatty and others met and directed the global leadership study ly white, private Catholic school, that he real- with the dean and the provost of the library abroad program to Sweden. and had a discussion about why this particized how rare this was. ular library was central to the experiences of “I loved the job, but as somebody who en“My pastor was Black,” says Beatty. “Our parnot only Black students and students of col- joys research and teaching, I wanted a tenure ish was predominantly Black. It was in a black or, but to all students on campus. “That was a track position,” says Beatty. neighborhood in Indianapolis. When thinking transformative kind of activist experience for One soon came available at Salem State Uniabout Catholicism, I didn’t realize that being me,” recalls Beatty. versity in Salem, Massachusetts. Beatty acBlack and Catholic was not the norm.” cepted a position as an assistant professor in High school was also the first time Beatty can higher education student affairs, but it wasn’t remember experiencing blatant racism. From long before a new opportunity presented itthings other students would say to how the self. teachers would respond to students of color, In 2018, Beatty joined the Florida State UniBeatty felt that their experiences were being versity College of Education as an assistant minimized. professor in the higher education program. “I think it was minimizing for the sake of Thanks to Beatty’s efforts, the librarian kept not making a scene, or trying to deescalate her job and the library remained on campus “I felt like this position at FSU was created for things. It made me think, ‘Well, we’re not cap- and is still there to this day. His actions also me,” says Beatty. “It married my research initalizing on this moment. Number one, you’re garnered him a mention in a high school U.S. terests of leadership education with higher minimizing my experience, and number two, history textbook’s unit on social activism with education, and I’m able to center issues of soyou’re almost reinforcing the bad behavior by a photo of his group marching to the library. cial justice in my work. I get to do research on leadership education, but I get to teach unnot addressing it in the moment.’” “It’s a reminder of the lasting impacts that we dergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students, These early experiences would end up shap- can have,” says Beatty. too. I’ve really been enjoying what I’m doing ing the trajectory for Beatty’s personal and After graduation, Beatty remained at Indinow.” professional life as a leader. ana University as an academic advisor and
he issue of racism is not new to education, but recent events have brought it into the forefront of conversations around the country—particularly on college campuses. With the growing use of social media as a tool for social justice and activism, more and more individuals—especially college students—are able to make their stories heard beyond their respective campuses.
“It’s a reminder of the lasting impacts that we can have.”
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