Marquette University is a great school with a diverse community. However, its lack of substantial Black faculty is concerning. In all my time as a Marquette student, I have never had a Black professor. I have not seen that many on campus either.
As a Black student myself, I want to see people who look like me in leadership roles. This representation would give me more pride in my identity and a greater sense of Black solidarity.
A 2024 survey of former and current Black teachers called “What Schools must Do to Retain Black Educators” revealed that they faced challenges when it came to expressing their cultural identity at work. This included experiencing disrespectful peer comments, resistance when discussing anti-Blackness, racism and organizing cultural events. Experiences like these could keep Black people from pursuing teaching and make them feel isolated at work.
Marquette should have more Black faculty in order to help bring in more Black students. The current Black student population at Marquette is approximately 5% of the undergraduate student population, which is a number that can be increased.
Marquette’s faculty is currently only 8.71% Black. While that is a significant jump from the 3.4% that was present in 2018, it is a paltry number in comparison to the 80.51 white faculty percentage. What makes this difference even more staggering is that Black people only make up a national average of 7% of the faculty in colleges and universities.
President Kimo Ah Yun, who was named the 25th president of the university after the tragic passing of President Lovell, is the first Black person to hold this position. A Black man being the first president of color at Marquette is monumental.
Between 1740 and 1867, Black Americans were prohibited from learning how to read or write by anti-literacy laws. Even though this did not stop racial inequality in education, Brown v. Board of Education brought legal segregation to an end in public schools in 1954. In 1964, Title IV of the Civil Rights Act was passed. This ruled that schools that were receiving federal funding could not discriminate against students when it came to race.
Even though these rulings and passed acts were huge accomplishments, they should not have been. This history of injustices set up barriers for Black people and made it harder for us to gain leadership positions such as university professor or president. When the history of unequal treatment that Black people in America have faced, especially when it comes to education, is considered, a Black man being the head of one of the top national universities is groundbreaking.
“Our teaching, scholarship and learning must be inclusive and reflective of the needs of our diverse world,” President Ah Yun said in an email. “Diversity within our faculty and staff certainly benefits the Marquette campus, as well as the broader local and global communities.”
Potential Black students hearing about this could make them want to enroll and therefore, bolster Marquette’s Black representation. In turn, this would make the school even more diverse. This could potentially lead to the school’s Black Student Council being operational and functional again, for Marquette having more Black faculty.
Gabby Shoulders, the most recent president of the Black Student Council, shared her thoughts about her tenure with it and what the state of it was at the time. It was revealed that the Council was not active last semester.
“I think it’s simply because people just weren’t joining and I think that’s for a multitude of reasons,” Shoulders said when describing why this was the case. “I mean, one being Black at a PWI (Predominantly White Institution) is just really hard.”
Speaking from personal experience, Black students at a PWI can create feelings of isolation and unfamiliarity. I get along with my non-Black professors and classmates but feel like I can’t relate to them sometimes. This is why I was excited upon learning that Marquette had a Black Student Council last semester. I thought that I was finally going to be able to be in a space with people that shared my experiences.
Black faculty increase leading to the resurrection of the Black Student Council could lead to Black students feeling more comfortable at Marquette and embraced. Since we now have a Black president, I feel as if now is the best and most imperative time for this to happen.
More Black faculty could also help advocate for students to join the Black Student Council and bring more awareness to it, as there is currently little promotion for it.
Marquette University is a great school with people from all walks of life attending and working here. I just feel like Black people here are underrepresented and deserve more spotlight.
This story was written by Christopher Hayden. He can be reached at christopher.i.hayden@marquette.edu.
