Transcripts For CSPAN2 After Words Freeman Hrabowski The Emp

CSPAN2 After Words Freeman Hrabowski The Empowered University July 13, 2024

Should be empowered to look in the mirror and its a way of talking about society and institutions that are helping and should be recognized whatever is going well but also willing to say we have a way to go. The subtitle starts with the notion its abou that all of usg together with the notion. I found the subtitle interesting at the cover of the book you dont have one higher than the other. Why was that . They are connected and thats the point there are ways in which we work collectively through those to think about the notion of the sense of empowering. You tell an important story in this where its never an overnight thing. To plant the seeds and then have time to grow and its a great example of that as a person going through their own journey of a think about that time timee which for a lot of liters isnt always easy. We start with the idea we are under 60yearsold and ive been fortunate to be there for 25 years and what ive learned is the success that we have had has come as the result a lo of a lof people taking their time to analyze and assess the problem and challenges to get to know how the culture needed to change and that means half the students graduate and it also means that we think about understanding it takes more than sitting through some classes to touch the hearts and minds of people and we have a selffulfilling prophecy. We want to make sure they succeed. Look at the student to your left and right thats a terrible thing to say. Its a matter of knowing you dont think progress overnight so when we talk about what it means to help people understand going through this process, how do you know when you are on the right path of shaping the culture, how do you know because sometimes you need those benchmarks. You dont even appreciate it and i would suggest and the books suggest and my colleagues all say we have to get out of the culture and step out of it and look back at whats going on. If you purchase our analytics and number two, looking at the economic backgrounds but number two, doing focus groups. Ive learned over these years it is in that process that we learn more about who we are one of the many fascinating things that i think has happened at the University Baltimore under your leadership is how you also reshape what people see when they look at you. If a university that frankly now we are talking about a community that is leading the nation in many ways in how it is training and teachinis teaching scientisd mathematicians and engineers and we are not talking about scientists and mathematicians engineers to students of color that are scientists and mathematicians engineers etc. So talk to us how that took place and now as many people nickname the factory, talk about that transition. The transition. First of all it is true people continue to talk about the first years as we were not well known and in many ways we were so. We hadnt become residential. To build a Solid Foundation it was in that setting that i realized we have some good stuff here. We have set some high bars. So now we factor in when you walk down the campus you will see students from all over the [inaudible] students of all races and disciplines into those areas are important but im excited we have students in the arts setting up language and culture. Ive got plenty of students on campus it is a place where its important that the social sciences are important and i bring that up because it is something we say in the book which is we have to appreciate the fact it isnt one area of discipline and another versus another. It isnt the best but its how we integrate these and how we teach the future scientists to appreciate the value of ethics but theyre looking at the digital humanities and technology. So looking at the university and looking at the mirror of society held we teach our students they can be proficient in a number of areas they can learn and love language and culture even in math vice versa. This book is coming out such a powerful time because we have never seen the university as a system under such attack of the virtue of Higher Education and why people need more training and so on and so forth. Talking about how to empower the university, but is war response for that criticism, and what is the role of the end Howard University . Guest university . Guest co. E are feeling that. We are able to look at the big picture. It isnt for everyone. A lot of students dont want this to. Understanding what is happening in the postsecondary world we saw the meeting to appreciate the end Research Universities or the community colleges. Scope rich and diverse with all types of institutions, people asking the First Response is always absolutely. Show me a family that has seen some success and that has gone e on to get a job thats where they continue to in college and universities. The challenge we face that most people dont realize is they have experienced College Graduation and if you havent experienced it dont appreciate what it can do for your family. So its basically empowered to say to the nation and beyond that it matters. Creating citizens into teaching people how to think in Civic Engagement, all the things we do that other institutions do, but at the same time, we should be empowered to loo look an interny at ourselves in the mirror that we can do much better. There is more that we can do. Host when you think about the more that we can do, i cant help but think about your own personal story, your own personal journey that brought you from alabama to maryland and now leading one of the most prestigious forwardlooking universities in the world. Tell us a bit about your journey into the role that education played in the journey. Guest i appreciate that. The childrens march on birmingham and all of my life ive loved reading and math and thats what i want for every child is to appreciate the meaning of words and understand the connection so i am fortunate to be at a university that allows me to. I could never imagine i would be at a University Like this because what im able to see on the campus that is so inspiring is people from countries that appreciate what they have in common. We are in all of the place and have come to learn to talk about ideas and prepare to be leaders. I think of money owed journey where we have that experience in the Civil Rights Movement then understand through community and values to get people to lead in Civic Engagement. I had the honor to march with doctor king and its the same year my university was founded. We are together and ive been there at the university over the years. I would also say as we tell our stories the question has to be for the donors or alumni but it also means looking at the context. Looking at the context of one stage we are fortunate in maryland they come from different Political Parties and work well together so, our political leaders and elected officials in sure that we keep building the quality of education and its been encouraging to those of us in the field the understanding is very clear our families will be closely connected to education. Host they are not just people from baltimore and maryland were from the united states. It is a Global Community. What was your first exposure to the Global Community and how did it change you . Guest i had the pleasure of studying in egypt, my wife and i at the university in cairo and there were students from over the world therallover the s the first time i was in an environment where except for those at the university often didnt speak english and when i began to learn some things about another culture and most important it was a broad experience in many ways, and it led me to appreciate what we do today to encourage more and more of our students to have the experience abroad as we have more and more that come to us as faculty from all over the world and the most important thing is for us to first appreciate the responsibility we have in the country to understand humankind and reach out to other people with an extent about coming to say that we are all a part of this human race. Host how much of your education was the . It is allencompassing where they are into bringing them along in virginia and then the university. In the early 70s when i began to understand, ive been in birmingham and by world had been primarily africanamerican and there were differences and challenges. However, all those experiences shaped the other institutions. Its very special in the state of maryland because it is the only university founded at such a time that people of all races go to accompany them. From the beginning we were in institution of different races but this is what i saw around the country and what we worked to improve on. We have desegregated now in that we have students of all different races and institutions that we havenbut we havent tr. For there were people like themselves and from their own account of course. When we talk about the university and society are we teaching our young people how to interact substantively from themselves and this is one of the strengths working hard in the classroom and beyond the classroom. From the own race or country you want to know all different backgrounds as human beings and that the world is so diverse. We dont talk enough about how we should go about coming to appreciate other people, caring about other people who are different from ourselves. This is a part of our success and we can always do better. And how are the University Better than we are. Weasel that perfectly on display. We saw that perfectly on display almost five years ago after the uprising is. If you dhave to do as you just t our joy and interconnectedness and pain. For we need to talk about that moment that was so important for you to use your voice in such an empowering way. Guest we were worried about the children of baltimore and the citizens there and it was a large high end up from one of the buildings and it said if there were students that put this up. Youre spiritually and emotionally and psychologically connected. Theyve been involved in all kinds of Civic Engagement and they are working and connecting to be supportive. People dont realize that baltimore is the site of the most educated people in the world. Youre the seconwe are the secod community in the country. [inaudible] 30 of americans have experience going to college, graduating from college so the point im making is a the notion of the empowered university should be the power to not only look inward at the campus to help the children of the regions and the people that are poor. What is th the whole festivity e into part of what they were we g in that period is what other institutions have looked to do whetodaywhen theyve had challed that is to get into the city and environment. Theres much more work to be done. Our universities that we are proud to be a part of baltimore and not, we stand by. Who are from western china and all over the globe. What did you see among the students when everything that was happening very much whether its their adopted backyard or their real backyard they try to understand the issues and we were having faculty and staff and town Hall Meetings and at ththemost important what it meao reshape the thinking about people that hadnt had a voice. So, large numbers of th the cous particularly in the humanities, social sciences and the arts are focused on those areas. We are a part of the National Movement and that is what the faculty itself working with students to look at these challenges that we faced in our society and our cities. And its not one city or a couple of cities. These are those around the country, we notice of the disparity. And its become a part of our solution has been to infuse these challenges into the work the students are doing in the classroom and in the Community Engagement so that as they become leaders, whether they are going to be a lawyer or a teacher or a scientist, they have a better appreciation of this devastating impact of poverty, the strength of that children bring to the classroom, and most importantly, the possibility of changing the way that we do business, of rethinking th the narrative so t we stop blaming those people who are less fortunate. And at the same time, teaching young people how to take as much responsibility as they can even as we work to change policies that can be so discriminating. We think about the role poverty plays its everything that we see. One of the things you focused on is on the context of Brain Development and how exactly are we exercising this muscle and creating platforms for every child, every person has the chance to exercise that any liberating way. We think about this role that these disparities play in our larger society. There are some people that say understanding those discrepancies that isnt my issue, that isnt my thing. And for you was taken to such a lead on educating not just the current future leaders in our society, how do we help people to understand, how are we training or scholars to understand the role that each and everyone ha every one has tn addressing some of these regardless of occupation they going to war regardless their field of profession they choose. Guest i go to economics were allowed to say i look at the income inequality in our society and the large millions of americans of all races and we see at the top more and more. The challenge is a structural challenge as we think about how we help our children through education, which is a piece of it, but there are other issues that our Society Needs to appreciate, and that is the advantage, all kinds of advantages we have about how its ways of building our families. Its so understanding the devastating impact of things like poverty and race and gender discrimination can help us understand how solving those problems will last us all up as a society. For the campus what has been amazing to be focused on people in our inner city areas and other places where we have challenges around the state of maryland and what that means is looking at ways of helping children learn and looking at other policies. Looking at issues involving healthcare there is the need for the broad understanding of all of the ways in which poverty is that negative impact and the issue of stress and its relationship to learning. Yet what i can tell you is we work on our programs from the first kids coming to college that has been firsttime offenders and to see the strength of those children and we see their ability to think and how we can hone in on those skills and those from baltimore to the other schools, and i have seen scores ive been reading and math if we develop programs designed to help the Amazing Program involving the math and science teachers in the majors to work in middle school for exactly those kids work in the schools America Needs to understand if they are not doing well it is remarkable that you did matter they are not looking at. Its more complicated than that. We have to get their support we need to find ways of helping out, and accountability related to the support we give to teachers and children and families. Its that supports that can make a big difference. Thinking of support, its interesting what support do we need, what support do we ask f for. Theres a great story in your book and its on page 71 on the chapter of great and greatness you are talking about how you were the interim president of 1992 and William Schaefer of the former mayor of baltimore independent that point became the governor of the state of maryland but you met with him and had the chance to articulate your vision and what you wanted to do and what you thought could happen. There was a point here where she says what can i do to support the candidacy to become president im going to ask them to make you the president. And at that point i think everybody thought that sounds great thank you. Please do not contact the board of regents. And nothing that you aske the td them for was not for a call or recommendation. You asked them for trees. If you know anything about politics, its always very powerful, but i wanted to be president if they wanted me to become president. I didnt want him to say that they made him do it. He was a do it now kind of person. This is what i would say to you. I knew we needed more green space and he had some power. He looked at me and smiled and said i can do that indicated a. Of 20 some years have gone by and i said governor, you did this for us and he got tears. It was a special moment. It really was. Host its also very symbolic because you had these grow into these amount of things and frankly they will outlast us all. They will be here looking out for generations and providing shade and support. Its also emblematic we think about Higher Education in the point. And that the problems in our society. Climate change is real and one of the things is the environment, whether it is the environment of engineering, science, policy, we have thousands of students that are working in those areas and large numbers of faculty working on environmental issues, whether it is about water, all the way over to the areas of technology connected to the environment, and so all of that while a im thinking about the import university to get involved in the problems of the society. But Climate Change issues, the environment would be some of those. The one part i would mention we need to look at it more carefully about th that relationship not only between k12 and universities, but the fact that a large percentage of the students that get into colleges dont graduate and while we said that about half, the fact is that distribution is fairly bimodal. In other words, the wealthiest place that he will see people start graduating when thinking about for years for example, but the largest percentage of the public quite frankly are going to be below 40 . I am always saying this shouldnt be acceptable to any of us. In the 25 years ago because we have most of the freshman and sophomore on campus but weve gone from under 40 now 70 some percent and you can conclude those that we knew about. We worked very hard to make sure the students that come to us actually do succeed. The other part of that is there are different strategies we need to be using. One is that redesign we hear people are redesigning courses and we understand of the election method is one way of delivering and ther

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