Image: Ed Lee, a member of the current cohort of students in IHE’s Executive Ed.D. program, was recently quoted in a Chronicle of Higher Education article about Emory University’s response to student demands on race issues. Lee, executive director of the Barkley Forum Center for Debate Education at Emory, served as a facilitator for one of the working groups appointed by Ajay Nair, Emory’s senior vice president and dean of campus life, to examine the 13 demands issued by Black Students of Emory last fall. The groups, each composed of about a dozen people including students, faculty and administrators, met several times starting in January. Lee headed the group that addressed the demand to block Yik Yak, a controversial social media application that allows anonymous comments, by creating a “geofence.” Lee told the Chronicle that when his working group got together, he asked two questions: Why is a geofence on the table? And what is the primary issue we are trying to resolve? After discussion, the group concluded that a ban on Yik Yak would be more symbolic than useful. Instead, the group recommended establishing a student-led team to respond rapidly to hate speech. Lee was well-equipped to lead his working group. His higher education interests include creating organizational structures and programs that facilitate deliberation and dialogue. “I’m also interested in advocacy training and developing student empowerment,” he says. He hopes to combine his Ed.D. degree with his knowledge of debate and deliberation to promote dispute resolution models that use conflict as a catalyst for creative and innovative educational reforms. As for the student demands at Emory, Lee told the Chronicle that he is optimistic that the university is headed in the right direction, but says a sense of urgency must remain. The full article, which appeared in the April 29, 2016 issue, is available to subscribers here: http://chronicle.com/article/One-University-s-Response-to/236187 Type of News/Audience: General News
