Community College Research Initiatives

November 24, 2019

Keynote on the Equity Imperative at the NWCCU Annual Conference

Bragg, D. D. (2019, November 20). The equity imperative for higher education. Keynote presented at the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) annual conference, Seattle, WA. 

Debra Bragg presented a distinguished lecture for the NWCCU annual conference. The keynote focused on systemic inequities in higher education that detrimentally impact students of color. She spoke about the ways in which higher education perpetuates wealth inequality and disparities in funding and status negatively impact student transfer from community colleges to universities. Her presentation offered insights into equity-minded, data-driven processes that colleges and universities need to adopt to engage in on-the-ground improvement work. She closed her keynote with Eldridge Cleaver, American Writer, and Political Activist (1935-1998) famous quote,  “There is no more neutrality in the world. You either have to be part of the solution, or you’re going to be part of the problem” to emphasize the urgency with which higher education needs to address systemic racism to ensure upward mobility is a reality for underserved students.

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