I joined the Inclusive Excellence Faculty Community at the University of Denver this fall, and we had our first orientation meeting this week. One of the participant's comments keeps coming back to me: "It's not always the responsibility of the underprivileged to point out the mistakes and privilege of the people in power." Some of the black folks and white allies in the group agreed that they do get burned out on it. Then another participant quoted Bishop Desmond Tutu who said something to the effect of, "To be silent in the face of oppressor is to be allied with the oppressor."
Can you tell that these people are some of the best minds in the academic world? And then there's practical, realistic me. When we talked about barriers to creating inclusive excellence in the classroom, I said that it reduces my hourly rate and cuts into billable time. Seriously, I tracked my hours spent on class last quarter, and after accounting for my time and expenses, I grossed (that's before taxes) somewhere around $13.50 an hour. Another adjunct tells me, "You're better off working at Wendy's." Well, not quite, but it is a labor of love, for sure.
What is the driving force that pushed me to become involved in this group, which means more meetings and discussions and emails? One of my core values is continuous improvement, and that's high up on the list of motivating factors in this case. I want to constantly evolve into a higher state of being, and I want to be a better teacher every time I teach. And it's also a forgiving group that will provide some basic peer support, which is pretty much absent for adjunct faculty. I get to talk to people who struggle with the same issues I do, and they'll tell me it's OK when I screw up; it's all a journey.
Forgiveness and support and a push to be a better person. It's like Nirvana for me, actually. So forget my hourly rate. I'll consider it a cheaper solution than therapy.
