The Hispanic Faculty Experience

Book excerpt: Hispanics are not a current trend. They have been here for centuries and embody an integral part of the United States and higher education. Every racial term—including Hispanic, Latino/a, and more recently Latinx and Latine—is imperfect and problematic. There is no consensus about what works best. Despite this reality, the lives and stories of non-White faculty are essential to the future of Christian higher education. Each author shares their account of working in a predominately White Christian institution. Filled with triumphs, struggles, and penetrating insights, the chapters explain what it is like to experience the shifting demographics of today’s universities, which are bringing increasing numbers of Hispanic students even as the overall number of Hispanic colleagues remains exceedingly small. This book will be especially useful for leaders who may be unaware of how difficult it is to navigate the challenges of Christian higher education as Hispanic faculty.