![]() I met them on weekends to discuss their retention requests, helped draft their new contracts with their title promotions and substantial salary increases. I was the only Black woman in senior administration.Īs Chief of Staff, the Chancellor asked me to help retain two senior White male administrators. When I left Swanlund, the lot was largely empty, the building often silent. It was rare that the Chancellor’s car was ever there before mine. I was almost always the first car in the parking lot in front of the Swanlund Administration Building, pulling into my assigned space next to the Chancellor’s. Since my first day of work on October 16, 2006, I had maintained a disciplined routine. I was navigating a challenging marriage and trying to frequently visit my mother who was navigating Alzheimer’s. I was getting to work at 7 am, after dropping my two young children off at school, and staying until 6 pm, picking them up from after school. In addition, I was teaching Critical Race Theory and Critical Race Feminism in the Law School and Black Feminism in the African American Studies department, revising my dissertation into a book, and working quietly toward a tenure dossier. I was also serving as associate chancellor for strategic affairs and as chief diversity officer. When a new chancellor arrived, I was asked to serve as chief of staff. Over the next 8 years at Illinois, I worked my way up to Associate Chancellor and Associate Provost and Associate Professor with tenure. The job I landed was a position 2 levels lower in the organization, with a $30,000 salary cut. I was a senior administrator I had 5 degrees, including 2 master’s degrees a law degree and a PhD. I was sure that I was going to find a job quickly. When I knew it was time to start looking for another job, closer to my mother in Illinois, I started looking. I had been in a more senior role at Vanderbilt University for 8 years, holding three titles: Assistant Secretary of the University, responsible for a 40 member board of trustees and 8 committees University Compliance Officer, responsible for all things compliance from athletics, to affirmative action, to human subjects research, to animal research to environmental health and safety and the university attorney for real estate and construction, negotiation over $500 million worth of construction contracts. I had arrived at the University of Illinois as an Associate Director of the Office of Equal Opportunity and Access and Assistant Provost. I had worked my way “up the ladder,” as they say –the proverbial career ladder. I had been questioning the magnitude of my commitment, dedication, and loyalty to the university. It was an odd voice in my head, but relevant to my current role and challenges. If you follow a command that doesn’t begin with “Simon says” you are out. Players must only obey the commands that start with “Simon says”. So, in the game, this powerful Simon gives a command. The way the game works is that one person is chosen to be Simon, who according to Julie Glover, a blogger who writes a lot about children’s games and their origins, is named after Simon De Montfort, a 13th-century French-English noble, who commanded so much authority from those around him that he imprisoned King Henry III. ![]() Nine years ago, on my way to work at the University of Illinois, I heard a voice say, “Simon Says, Take Two Giant Steps Backward.” I remember having a conversation with this “voice.” What do you mean? Take Two Giant Steps Backward? Most of us are aware of that children’s game. It is also dedicated to all the women of color for whom I founded the Faculty Women of Color in the Academy National Conference. Montague, President of Volunteer State Community College, two Black women presidents who died this week. This post is dedicated to President Joanne Epps, interim president of Temple University and Dr.
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