What Do Leaders
Need to Do the Right Thing?

By Monica J. Casper, Ph.D.
Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of sociology at Seattle University

I work in higher education, which means that I have had ample opportunity to witness institutional betrayal as a graduate student, faculty member, department head, and leader. I have also had the opportunity to work to mitigate harm, sometimes successfully and sometimes not. Creating more humane learning, teaching, and working environments is one of the many reasons I became a dean.

As a sociologist keenly interested in organizations, I understand that institutions are bounded spaces made up of people, practices, policies, histories, technologies, archives, and buildings that exist in broader social contexts. As embodied by people, institutions represent and reproduce hierarchies and inequities. Making change means not just working at the individual level, but also working at the structural or systemic level.

Alas, structural change can be slow - sometimes glacially so. It takes effort and time to move institutions. Yet courageous leadership matters. The right leader in the right place at the right time can make all the difference between the continuation of harm and the disruption of harmful practices and behaviors. This is one of the reasons I have been thinking about the question: What do leaders need to do the right thing?

Unfortunately, in higher education and elsewhere - especially recently - there is little room for error. Whether we are talking about students, faculty, or administrators, one small misstep can lead to cancellation or even termination. (Though tenure tends to protect those who have it, as does privilege of all sorts, including racial and gender privilege.) The current political context is such that we expect everyone around us to get things right all of the time, or else.

If we want to see systemic change that makes a difference, we need to grant our leaders an ounce of grace. Of course, sometimes grace is neither warranted nor deserved. A university president or dean who commits sexual harassment or assault? Immediate dismissal. Ditto the university leader who makes racist or misogynist comments. They have no business being in positions of leadership.

However, I have found that many administrators are deeply committed people who have chosen leadership to make things better for the people around them. They want to support faculty and students. They want to ensure staff are fairly compensated. They want to create cultures of care. They just do not always know how to do so or are not given the space to reflect on their own actions and do better. They may also be beholden to regents and trustees who are more focused on the bottom line.

Let me offer an example of courageous leadership. At San Diego State University, where I worked prior to my current role, I was both dean and then special assistant to the president on gender-based violence. That role came about because, after the off-campus sexual assault of a young woman in our community by student athletes, President Adela de la Torre wanted to do something bold on our campus to make change.

In addition to appointing me as special assistant, we also created a Blue Ribbon Task Force on Gender-Based Violence. We joined the NASEM Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education. And we began to have hard conversations across campus about how to improve our campus climate, prevent sexual assault, and better support survivors. All of this unfolded in a context in which the California State University System was being tasked with improving its Title IX practices.

There is still so much work to be done, both at SDSU and at my new institution - and indeed, at every institution of higher education in the country. However, courageous leadership, such as that shown by President de la Torre, can move the bar, and it can signal to those within the institution and beyond that change is not only possible, but necessary.

Dr. Monica J. Casper is Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of sociology at Seattle University. A scholar of gender, race, health, violence, and trauma, she is the author of numerous books and articles, most recently Babylost: Racism, Survival, and the Quiet Politics of Infant Mortality, from A to Z. With Rebecca G. Martínez, she is the co-editor of Betrayal U: The Politics of Belonging in Higher Education, scheduled for publication in 2025.