Archer was one of those 31 students. She remembers the moment she learned about the gift from her former professor, Cris Hassold. She assumed it would be something small – maybe enough for a dinner or a keepsake. But the $100,000 she received changed her life. “I literally opened my first savings account with it.”

Still, Archer adds:

The true inheritance isn’t about money – it was about the way Cris taught me to look at the world. The real gift was the way she encouraged me to think deeply, challenge assumptions, and approach art and history with openness and curiosity. It’s something I try to pass on to my students here at Montclair.”

Now the incoming chair of the Department of Art and Design, Archer reflects on how much of her path has been shaped by Hassold’s influence.

“I didn’t start with a clear plan. I was 18, unsure, and not convinced college was for me,” she says. “But meeting Cris changed everything.”

Archer joined Montclair in 2018 to teach . She was drawn to the University because so many of its students reminded her of herself – driven, curious and navigating the financial and personal challenges that can make higher education feel out of reach.

“I come from a family with a lot of heart and a lot of love – but not a lot of financial means,” she says. At her father’s urging, she applied to New College in Sarasota – and got in with a full scholarship.��

“Studying art helped me see value that wasn’t economic. I learned to see cultural value – and to understand that culture has the power to shape identity and meaning,” she says.

It’s a lesson she now shares with her Montclair students.

“If I can do anything for my students, it’s to help them recognize the value of culture – the cultures they come from, the ones they maintain and embody.”

She adds, “I love those moments when a student sees something in class and says, ‘Wait! This is what I grew up with — I didn’t know it was valuable.’ And I get to say, ‘It is, but this is because you and your community make it meaningful. It’s valuable because you’re valuable.’ That’s what Cris did for me. And that’s what I try to do for them.”

Over the years, Archer has received emails from former students about works of art they recently saw and recognized from her class. “In those moments, I feel their world expanding. It gives me chills. That’s the dream – not teaching students what to think, but how to think.”

Carrying the Legacy Forward

Nicole Archer, incoming chair of the Department of Art and Design, says her path was shaped by her mentor’s influence.

Archer is currently completing research for a new book on the role of textiles in shaping cultures of violence. She’s also curating a 2026 exhibition marking the 250th anniversary of the United States, using the American flag to explore themes of political participation, empowerment and community.

One of her most treasured possessions is a photograph from her college graduation in 1999. “Cris was camera shy,” Archer says. “She only let us take a photo with her on graduation day. That picture has followed me everywhere – London, California. It’s always been with me.”

When she looks at it now, she sees more than a moment.

“I see the beginning of everything – grad school, teaching, publishing, mentoring. Every time I help a student take that next step, it feels like I’m honoring Cris’s legacy.”

Story by Marilyn Joyce Lehren, University Communications and Marketing

Ready to Start Your Montclair Journey?

• Prospective Students and Parents: Learn about Montclair admissions and the College of the Arts. ��Plan your visit��and take your first step in��applying to become a Red Hawk!
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But what about the rest of the teams that have seen the season come to an end without earning a ring?

While hearts may be broken now, when preseason begins this summer, those teams and their fans will begin a new season with hope that this is “the year.”

So why do fans keep coming back to the teams they love? We asked Stephen Andon, Associate Professor in the School of Communication and Media at ����vlog, to weigh in.

What keeps fans hopeful, even after a season or years of losses?

Sports fandom is an inherently hopeful cultural practice, in large part because sports are so unpredictable. On any given day, any given team or player can win. It’s why even the smallest sports Cinderellas still believe they have a chance.

For example, every semester I ask my Sports Communication students, “If you could pick any team to be a part of, from any point in history, what team would you choose?” At least one student mentions the 2008 New York Giants, who famously upset the undefeated New England Patriots in Super Bowl 42. It is largely regarded as one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history and it resonates even for those too young to remember the event.

Hope is always eternal, but never more so than in sports. This is partly due to the idea that hope is also a collective feeling, intensified through what communication theorists would call identification – or sharing and connecting with those around us – whether it’s gathered around a TV at home with family and friends while wearing a lucky shirt, or at the stadium with thousands of other screaming fans.

Talk about fanatic behavior. What makes a loyal fan?

The first component of a fan is the idea of ritual. Professional sports is highly ritualistic – games occur at regular intervals, at regular seasons during the year, and to be a fan requires this kind of annual participation. For many, being a fan is a tremendous part of their family identity. Consider the example of Giants QB sensation Tommy DeVito, a New Jersey kid from a family known for their tailgate parties rife with chicken cutlets. Loyalty to a team offers the chance for fans to come together on game days, whether that is at home, a local sports bar or at the stadium. These regular, ritualistic, performances deliver comfort and community.

Related: How a Montclair professor’s piece about Tommy DeVito’s Italian hand motion sparked a cultural conversation

Emotions and feelings are the second component of being a loyal sports fan. The powerful feeling of elation after a win can be so powerfully rewarding that any suffering that comes with the lows will be worth it in the end. Famously long championship droughts by the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, or the Cleveland Cavaliers, for example, have shown that even after decades of losing, the payoff of being able to celebrate is worth it. Suffering fan bases are bound together through hope that, despite what’s happened, the next game could very well be different and could deliver on the ultimate feeling in sport of being crowned champion.

Why do many fans feel so personally invested in their teams?

Fans tend to overestimate their direct influence on a team’s performance, but it’s an inherent part of sports fandom. Researchers have investigated the language that fans use regarding their teams after wins and losses, and it’s no surprise to find that fans of teams that are winning use more “we language,” like “we won last night,” while fans of teams that are losing choose language that separates themselves from the team, like “they lost last night.”

The identities of fans can often be tied closely to the performance of the team, and our impact on the team as a result is often mythologized. Sports media often ranks which teams have the best “home-field advantage,” a quasi-scientific means of measuring just how much impact a group of fans can have on the game – the Seattle Seahawks, for example, call their fans “the 12th man,” as do fans at Texas A&M football games. There is a real belief that fans are able to both positively motivate their home team and somehow negatively impact the visiting opponents.

What role do superstitions play in sports fandom, and why do fans feel responsible for their team’s success?

Sports often can come down to one play, one moment that can change the outcome of a game at any time. With the margins between victory and losing so razor thin, fans believe that any little bit of magic, luck, good juju, whatever you want to call it, can make a difference. So, fans do feel like they have agency, or power, to influence an outcome. This is perhaps , where chanting, singing, and music-playing supporters bang on drums, jump, and generally embody chaos for the entirety of the game. The collective understanding among these groups is that their energy is connected to the energy of the players, and that – especially in a sport that can be decided by a single goal – their volume and passion can inspire their team.

Superstitions are a curious part of sports, a sort of magical quality that can tip the balance in contests. It’s all a part of the irrationality, or emotional quality of sport and sports fandom.

How do discussions about sports fan behavior and similar topics prepare your students as future professional sports communicators?

As communicators, we recognize how critical it is to know what makes our audience tick. And so, as we train students to be storytellers and creators in this field, they absolutely must understand their audience. That includes understanding the history of sport and how fan cultures developed, in addition to theories that help us understand fan behavior and investigate how the media covers and creates meaning around sport. I offer two courses as examples:

• Students in learn how myths adopted by our culture through the centuries are reflected in the stories we write and film and edit about sports. Think of the Cinderella narrative, David vs. Goliath narrative, or the hero’s quest – these are all recognizable storytelling archetypes that fans embrace, or sometimes reject, that our students must understand in order to write the next story.
• In , we talk about fan rituals and creative activity, in addition to the impact that big ideas like media framing, or commodification have for the common sports fan. We also tackle ethical questions that fans face, and how the consumption of sports might look if fans were in charge. And we use theory to consider how the media frames the success or failure of athletes or teams on the big stage.

These ideas, histories, and theories provide the foundational platform for our students to embark upon careers in sports media.

Photo by Mike Peters for ����vlog

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Prospective student or parent? Learn more about the School of Communication and Media, plan a visit to our campus or take the first step in applying to become a Red Hawk. Made your decision to become a Red Hawk? Secure your spot now.

Journalist? Contact the Media Relations team for assets or to schedule an interview with Andon or any of our other Faculty Experts.

Here, Montclair experts in marketing and economics weigh in on the trends we may see in the 2024 holiday shopping season.

How will election hot topics impact retail?

• Tariffs: Post-election, shoppers may wonder whether President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to tax imported goods will impact prices. “Companies have rushed to front load imports for next year before a round of tariffs may come about,” says Luis Portes, Professor of Economics. “This could put price pressures now, as orders pile up.”
• Supply chain and port workers strike: Supply chain issues may also arise given concerns that the port workers strike is not fully resolved, “This may resurge in January as negotiations on automation take place,” Portes says. Jin-A Choi, Assistant Professor of Advertising and Director of Data Analytics for the Joetta Di Bella and Fred C. Sautter III Center for Strategic Communication at Montclair, analyzed recent online and social media data for topics relating to holiday shopping. Echoing Portes, Choi says data showed the potential strikes are anticipated to impact holiday gift prices and cause shortages, among larger supply chain disruptions. “The economic impact and challenge of delivering goods to households could negatively affect consumers’ shopping experiences this holiday season.”
• Inflation: According to Professor of Marketing Patrali Chatterjee, retail analysts are reporting consumers are seeing less inflation, which is giving them more confidence in spending. Nevertheless, says Associate Professor of Marketing Manveer Mann, inflation will impact consumer inclination to spend, particularly lower-income consumers who are more likely to pull back and look for discounts and cheaper alternatives.

Despite concerns about the economy and inflation, Choi says social media data shows a joyful holiday shopping frenzy is expected, with joy being the most prominent sentiment in the social media data set.

‘Slow shopping’ makes for mindful shopping

More consumers are taking their time before making purchases. According to Chatterjee, “slow shopping” emphasizes taking the time to think through each purchase as a need vs. want and making more mindful and level-headed buying decisions. The trend, especially popular with Gen Z, gives shoppers a chance to move past that initial rush of emotion that provokes a purchase, such as “FOMO” over missing a good deal.

Of course, a major part of holiday shopping does involve taking advantage of deals and discounts, which leads to at least one impulse purchase during the season, Chatterjee adds.

‘Wicked’ marketing is a win

If 2023 was the year of all things “Barbie” pink, this is the year for the musical film “Wicked” and everything Glinda pink and Elphaba green. Chatterjee says Universal’s marketing strategy is a win for them and any retail partners this holiday.

AI continues to power shopping habits, marketing strategies

Retailers have developed AI-powered shopping tools to more acutely influence consumer preferences, while shoppers use AI to find deals and personalized brand recommendations, Chatterjee says. “AI tools are influencing consumer behavior and boosting e-commerce growth.”

With the anticipation of increased spending on online shopping, Choi says retail strategies are centered around leveraging AI technology to enhance personalized experiences, optimize reach and sales, and boost consumer trust. “AI-driven insights are increasingly becoming essential for maximizing the seasonal ROI,” Choi says. “With changes in consumer data tracking (i.e. opt-in) accurate algorithms and models are more important than ever.”

Mann agrees that AI can serve as an effective gift guide and drive purchase decisions. One good example is Etsy’s Gift Mode, Mann adds.

TikTok is a major player in driving holiday sales

TikTok is not just a fun social media video platform, anymore – and it hasn’t been for some time. TikTok Shop has been generating momentum since it launched in 2023, and is especially popular for Gen Z, who are more likely to buy goods promoted by influencers and content creators, Chatterjee says.

Change in alcohol consumption during the holidays

Noticing less alcohol consumption at parties and gatherings? Chatterjee says wine and spirit consumption has declined post-Covid, and the trends are expected to continue for the foreseeable future. “Brewers are responding by creating and promoting lower or no-alcohol options and expanding into new categories like hard seltzers and ranch water.”

Mann also cites reporters of younger consumers’ inclination to abstain from alcohol. “We may continue to see a growth in non-alcoholic drinks, as the popularity has been steadily increasing,” says Mann. “Additionally, legalization of cannabis may also have some impact on alcohol consumption as some consumers may reduce alcohol consumption due to access to cannabis products.”

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Journalist: Contact the Media Relations team for assets or to schedule an interview about this topic.

����vlog English Professor Jonathan Greenberg and correspondent have come out with a new book titled , which is a collection of stories that feature the inspiring lives and achievements of some of these exceptional elders who made their mark late in life.

Profiling people like Colonel Sanders, who was in his 60s when he founded the restaurant chain Kentucky Fried Chicken, or Mary Church Terrell, who at 86 helped lead sit-ins at segregated Washington, D.C., lunch counters in the 1950s, the book is a celebration of those who live life to the fullest.

Here are some highlights from Roctogenarians, Late in Life Debuts, Comebacks, and Triumphs and Greenberg’s thoughts…

…On Roctogenarians and what makes them special

It’s not just advanced years that make a person a Roctogenarian, Greenberg says, but an outlook on life – a certain mindset.

“A Roctogenarian is a person who rejects the basic cultural narrative that age is necessarily a story of decline and diminishing powers, and instead sees every new phase of life as a chance for new opportunities, a return to forgotten or neglected dreams and ambitions, or just a chance to build further on things that they already have accomplished,” explains Greenberg.

Going against the cultural norms of what older people should be and do is also very Roctogenarian, Greenberg notes. “We’re looking at a culture that says by the time you round into maybe your third act of life, it’s time to start packing it in, and here we’re saying, ‘Here are dozens of stories of people, famous and not famous, who have done just the opposite.’”

…On a few Roctogenarians featured in the book – famous and not

The lives and achievements of Mel Brooks, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Diana Nyad, Clara Peller, Peter Mark Roget and many others, some with household names, some without, are featured in Roctogenarians. Here are three that Greenberg highlights:

• – After working a lifetime in different jobs – including a roadside chicken and biscuit eatery in Georgia – at age 65, starting with nothing but a couple pressure cookers, a bag of seasoning, his $105 Social Security check and his ambition, Harland David Sanders set out and founded and turned it into a worldwide franchise empire. He is a good example of someone who took an idea and did something brand new, becoming a pioneer in franchising.
• – A hugely talented artist, Tyrus Wong exhibited his paintings and also worked for numerous companies, most notably Disney, where he was the lead production illustrator for the 1942 classic animated film, . He revolutionized the Disney look but wasn’t officially recognized for it until 2001, when he was inducted as a at age 91. Wong continued to create art and receive awards until his death at 106.
• – One of the great French artists of the 20th century, Henri Matisse was successful and celebrated throughout his life but a series of struggles when he was in his 70s – including divorce, World War II, cancer and the resulting surgeries – left him unable to paint. Instead of giving up art, he turned to a new medium, cut-outs or cut paper collages. With help from his assistants, he would cut shapes out of sheets of colored paper and arrange them to form compositions. It became an entirely new and celebrated phase of his career that continued until his death nearly 15 years later.

…On what Roctogenarians have in common – 3 shared attributes

Although no two individuals are entirely alike, Greenberg speaks of three attributes or qualities that are common in Roctogenarians and shared by most of them:

• Freedom. As people get older, they tend to stop caring as much about what other people think – a kind of freedom from needing the approval of others.
• Awareness. Awareness of time becomes more acute for many Roctogenarians and they may become aware of their own mortality in a new way, resulting in a “now-or-never” attitude. One such person was , who wrote as a first-time author at 65, saying “If I hadn’t finished it, I would’ve died howling with despair.”
• Drive. There are certain people who just don’t want to stop and was one of them. He had already enjoyed a remarkable career when, at age 76, he was approached to design a museum for New York City. He didn’t have to do it; his legacy was already ensured, but he took on the challenge and spent the next 15 years working on the .

…On how anyone can become a Roctogenarian

Greenberg has some suggestions for anyone who wants to make the most of their later years and become a Roctogenarian.

“Sometimes it’s as simple as going back to what you loved doing at 16, 25 or 30,” he says. “My cowriter, Mo Rocca, did a bit on WNYC public radio in New York and people were calling in and saying ‘I’m a Roctogenarian!’ and telling their stories. For some people, it’s the artistic side of themselves, for some people it’s even athletics.”

Greenberg says another mini-narrative in the book is about people who had basically dropped their dreams or ambitions and later returned to pick them back up. An example from the book is the guitarist of the rock band .

“Brian May, when he joined Queen with , was working on a PhD in astrophysics in London,” Greenberg relates. “Obviously, he couldn’t do both so he gave up the astrophysics and became a rock star. When he was nearing 60, he mentioned it in an interview and the chairman of his old department wrote to him and asked ‘Do you want to pick up your old research?’ May went back and completed his PhD in astrophysics at 60 and became a consulting expert in the field of .”

I’m a ______, tell me more…

Prospective Student / Parent: Plan a visit to our campus, learn more about our English programs in language, literature and creative writing, and take the first step in applying to become a Red Hawk!

Journalist: Contact the Media Relations team for assets or to schedule an interview with Dr. Greenberg about this topic. See more Faculty Experts and hi-res media assets available for download.

Teacher training, teacher shortage, pedagogy, diversity in education

Mayida Zaal is Associate Professor, Teaching and Learning and co-director of the Red Hawks Rising Teacher Academy which aims to help build a locally grown, diverse teacher workforce. Zaal’s research focuses on participatory action research (PAR) as a transformative pedagogy and on understanding the lived experiences of immigrant-origin youth. She is particularly interested in the preparation of teachers working in diverse settings.

Carlos McCray is Professor of Educational Leadership at Montclair. His areas of expertise include: urban school leadership, organizational diversity, educational equity, and he has a growing interest in the high attrition rate of urban K-12 students as a result of their multiple suspensions and expulsions.

Zoe Burkholder is Professor of Educational Foundations and
founding Director of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Education Project. Burkholder is an historian of education with expertise in educational equality in K-12 schools, antiracist education, school desegregation and its history, and the underrepresentation of teachers of color in public schools.

Comprehensive sex education, community health, COVID-19, student mental health, bullying, health policy, teen smoking

Lisa Lieberman, Professor and Chair in the College for Community Health, is an expert on sex education, tobacco, student health and health policy. Lieberman and fellow Faculty Expert Eva Goldfarb have also partnered on research related to sex education, co-authoring a 2021 study – the first of its kind in the field – that shows comprehensive sex education can prevent child sex abuse and intimate partner violence, increase appreciation for sexual diversity and improve environments for LGBTQ students, among other benefits.

Stephanie Silvera is Professor in the Department of Public Health at ����vlog as well as the Acting Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Affairs in the College for Community Health. Areas of expertise include epidemiology, cancer epidemiology, racial/ethnic disparities in cancer outcomes and COVID-19.

Jeremy Fox is Associate Professor of Psychology, with expertise in child mental health and a specific focus on anxiety and depression in children and adolescents. Topics for commentary include child mental health, childhood anxiety and depression, parenting and childhood behavioral difficulties and cognitive-behavioral therapy.

Christopher Donoghue is Professor of Sociology and editor of The Sociology of Bullying: Power, Status and Aggression Among Adolescents. Donoghue’s research and expertise spans the areas of adolescent bullying, sex education and ethnic and racial prejudice; his work on bullying focuses on the ways that middle school and high school students define the problem and how they cope with it.

AI in the classroom, adaptive learning, technology in teaching

Emily Isaacs, Executive Director of the Office of Faculty Excellence and Professor of Writing Studies, focuses on writing pedagogy and assessment, and teaching, learning and administration in higher education. Areas of expertise include teaching and learning, higher education, teaching and technology, teaching writing and assessing learning in higher education.

To set up an interview, please contact the Media Relations team.

As a comprehensive research university, Montclair’s Student Research Symposium provides both undergraduate and graduate students an opportunity to share their findings through poster presentations. Organized by the Office of Research, this year’s event featured 241 posters highlighting the research of 139 undergraduate, 68 master’s and 34 doctoral students mentored by 110 faculty members.

“Montclair’s Student Research Symposium is an opportunity for our students to share their work, receive feedback, brainstorm ideas for next steps in their projects, and to develop research presentation skills and document those skills on professional resumes,” says Acting Vice Provost for Research Stefanie Brachfeld. “Presenting the results of research and scholarship requires students to explain the key elements of their work and its significance in a way that is exciting and accessible and provides practice for students who will attend professional conferences and who have upcoming thesis and dissertation defenses. It’s also an opportunity to network with faculty members and collaborators, as well as other attendees from the community.”

Associate Justice Studies Professor Jason Williams, a mentor to a number of students, says about the Symposium: “As an R2 public institution that is engaged in community-based research and initiatives, it’s an obligation. We have to give our students these opportunities, not only to do research in the community, but to present it publicly.”

Among the many presenters were:

Julie Chowdhury and Erin Scott, both Family Science and Human Development graduate students in the doctoral program, and Kamalika Vora, a sophomore at Livingston High School, presented their findings on the experiences of formerly incarcerated people reintegrating into society with their poster titled “Understanding the Lived Experiences of Returning Citizens.” The poster outlined their “comprehensive approach, examining the citizens’ narratives on trauma, family and community ties, the criminal justice system, reentry and personal identity.”��

A former federal and state probation officer and current doctoral student, Chowdhury says she wanted to flip the narrative of reentering citizens from being viewed as a problem, to showcasing “their lived experience in a way that told a meaningful story…So, I’m doing the best I can to empower their voices.”��

The doctoral students interviewed formerly incarcerated people and found “that many of them actually do not recidivate, not because we’ve fixed a problem, but because they have a strong support system and they care about their wellness and they care about their families and they finally see their potential. A lot of it has to do with human agency,” says Chowdhury.

Her research partner Scott, a licensed professional counselor in private practice, examined how labeling of those formerly incarcerated “affects their mental health and how that can trigger depression. It can trigger a lot of insecurity, issues and things that sometimes get in the way of them working to be on the right path.”

Vora, who has an interest in criminal justice and research, reached out to Williams, who teamed her with his two graduate assistants Chowdry and Scott. Vora examined the economic aspects of recidivism and policies that help citizens reintegrate into society. “I had the opportunity to review the audio files of the interviews and transcribe them, so being able to hear their stories gave me a new perspective,” she says. “To see how they were able to overcome what they’ve done in the past, it was truly inspiring.”

Angelique Maniego, a senior Jurisprudence, Law and Society major, examined racial inequality in education and the roles of affirmative action and legacy admissions. She found that “instead of focusing on leveraging people of color up to the same level in the society, which is rooted in racial and social stratification…we should dismantle systems that allow systems in society certain advantages over certain groups.” By “dismantling the use of legacy admissions, it could be a step towards educational equality for everyone,” she says.��

Kimberly Gonzalez, a sophomore Hospitality, Sports, Events and Tourism major, researched the use of robots in tourism and hospitality, which is increasingly on the rise. She found that while there is room for robots, they don’t have that human touch, which can enhance guest experiences. “Service robots can help with smaller or more tedious tasks, such as check-in or room service, that don’t really need that human aspect,” she says, adding that using them will give “human employees time to focus on the value of creating connections that elevate experiences and help the industry stay competitive.”

Imaari Andrews explored the causes of increases in mass shootings in the country, including mental health and Supreme Court rulings related to the Second Amendment. Andrews, who lost his father to gun violence in Newark when he was a child, is not optimistic that mass shootings will decrease. “The Second Amendment continues to be a hotly debated topic, because increasingly those shootings continue to happen.�� It’s been going on for so many years; nothing has really changed.”

Andrews, who is working to become a trooper with the New Jersey State Police after graduating with a bachelor’s in Political Science and Law, says that finding a balance between gun rights and public safety “remains a pressing task for policymakers and society at large.”

In between poster sessions, students and other attendees heard from professors about scholarship, study abroad and other opportunities. Justice Studies Professor Jessica Henry discussed her journey from a public defender to Montclair faculty and a 2022 distinguished scholar. She shared that as a first-generation college student, she didn’t know what she didn’t know, and she offered students three pieces of advice: “Use your resources, including professors, advisors and Career Services. Second, follow your passion. Third, do the work, even if it’s hard.”

Henry congratulated students on their poster presentation: “What an amazing day to bring such beautiful minds in one room to celebrate your research.”

Brachfeld notes that the Symposium also helps students in other ways. “Not all students can afford to take time away from school, family, employment and personal obligations to attend a professional conference, and so our Symposium is tremendously important for providing access to professional development opportunities.”

Williams says: “Initiatives like these really help us hammer home that we are an exceptional institution. You can come here and do research, and not just in the classroom context, but you can be in a field of your professors collecting data, working with community-based organizations, you can come here and literally, do it all.”

PHOTO GALLERY

Story by Staff Writer Sylvia A. Martinez. Photos��by University Photographer Mike Peters.

• Climate change
• Environmental policy
• Urban environmental issues
• Ecology
• Freshwater biology
• Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs)
• Physical geography

To set up an interview, please contact the Media Relations team:

Andrew Mees
Media Relations Director
Email: meesa@montclair.edu
Phone: 973-655-3101
Cell: 201-317-1361

Elyse Fernandez
Media Relations Coordinator
Email: toribioe@montclair.edu
Phone: 973-655-4334
Cell: 201-416-9588

Montclair’s Earth Day Experts

What I’m about to say isn’t a secret: becoming a female higher education leader is hard.

Data from the bears this out:

• 33 per cent of college presidencies are held by women
• Women aspire to presidency, on average, 3.3 years later than men.

While the , the number of women leaders in higher education is not. This is especially troubling because most students at the undergraduate level are young women.

Representation matters. Our female students, staff and faculty benefit from seeing women in prominent leadership positions. A showed that 65 per cent of Americans feel it’s incredibly important that young women have women leaders to look to as role models within their organisations, and I would wholeheartedly agree.

To create a culture at our institutions that will develop the next generation of diverse female leadership, I believe we must teach the young women in our universities vital life lessons.

Teach young women to know their worth – and their value

When women are presented with a job offer or the possibility of a promotion, they are more likely than men to simply accept the first offer without countering. It’s something I experienced myself as I advanced through the ranks; I was so excited about taking a step forward that I didn’t fight for everything I may have been able to receive.

As administrators, we should be creating a culture of salary and negotiation transparency at our institutions, which is a . This will allow , and create an environment built on mutual respect between employee and organisation.

Of equal importance is showing women the value they bring that goes beyond dollars and cents. Their life experiences, their decision-making and their voices bring strong and diverse perspectives to any situation, whether they are in a leadership position or not.

We can do this by truly including our future female leaders – and all women wherever possible – in the conversations at every level of the institution that will move it forward and give them a true seat at the table long before they’re a dean, provost or president.

I do this in two ways: and a sponsor to women who want to advance in the academy and other areas of professional life. If there is a vacancy or position that I know will be a great fit for a colleague, I actively seek to ensure they are considered.

Teach young female faculty and students that it’s OK to put themselves first

I know this from personal experience. At times, women feel they need to be Superwoman: wife, mother, professional. And amid putting everything and everyone else first, we lose sight of our own well-being and our own ambitions.

As I progressed in my career, I developed the ability to vocalise my goals when people would want me to serve on a committee or take on an initiative. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to help or wasn’t a true participant in the growth of my institution. I needed to find the proper balance that would keep me moving forward.

The in certain situations – and the ability to give a clear reason for doing so – will help anyone to keep their professional goals on track and send a clear signal about their aspirations. Over time, this produces a profile of a professional who is driven and has a clear plan for their future that others can visualise.

Teach future women leaders how to check all the boxes

As we identify future women leaders, we need to show them how to take the professional steps necessary to continue on the path to leadership roles. But we also need to show them how to check all the boxes during an interview that will not show up on their résumé.

We must teach them how to truly evaluate not just an institution they are interviewing with but also the people they will be speaking with during that process. They must learn how to size up an institution’s culture and whether it is truly a fit with their values.

We must teach our future leaders, particularly women of colour, never to compromise their true, authentic selves to reach their leadership goals and to proudly express their identity in dress, hairstyle and accessories.

Teach men about the barriers that women face – and how to remove them

Since they often do not experience it themselves, men are at times naive to the barriers women face in advancing to leadership positions. So, it is more important than ever for women to bring men into these tough conversations, and to give them insight into exactly what our journey on the path to leadership is like and the obstacles we face.

When we do this, we engage in a dialogue that is educational, not adversarial. Many men are willing and able to be good allies and partners, like my colleague,

We can come together to ensure that women in higher education are developed at every stage of their careers in a culture that is inclusive and supportive of their aspirations. I’m living proof of what is possible when opportunity is given for women to realise their potential, and it is our duty, on International Women’s Day and all the days in between, to create an environment where a journey like mine is no longer the exception.

Marcheta Evans is chancellor of Bloomfield College of ����vlog.

In , edited by Sociology Professor Christopher Donoghue, the collection’s contributors explore the different types of peer aggression, the social aspects of bullying and the broader community systems that surround bullies and their victims.

Here, Donoghue explains why bullying should be examined from a systemic bias perspective, how schools could improve anti-bullying policies and what bullying looks like today.

What is the difference between the sociology and the psychology of bullying?

Sociologists and psychologists share a common purpose of wanting to reduce bullying inside and outside of schools, Donoghue says, but they have a different perspective on some of the ways of understanding what’s happening among school-age children and how to deal with the problem.

“Psychologists tend to focus a little more on the individual, and sociologists focus a little more on the environment or group level,” Donoghue says. “It’s important for schools to take a whole-school approach to bullying, and that means we focus not only on the bully, the victim and the bystanders, but also the full school community: the teachers, the administrators, the parents, the local community. Sociologists perhaps spend a bit more time thinking about the group level and things like systemic bias and school culture.”

What are common misconceptions about what bullying looks like today?

Here’s what you may not know about how bullying presents in today’s schools, according to Donoghue and other sociologists:

• Stereotypes persist of a strong boy physically bullying a smaller, weaker boy, or girls gossiping with and about each other. “Those types of things do happen but they don’t represent all bullying behaviors and it promotes the idea that bullying is exactly the way it was in the past,” Donoghue says. The stereotypes even appear in media reports about bullying, through the use of stock images of girls whispering in each other’s ears, or a boy looking menacingly at a smaller peer.
• Bullying is not always visible. Cyberbullying is very real, Donoghue says, but it’s often difficult to see in part because it may be taking place in nonpublic online spaces such as video games. Even in instances where a tech-savvy adult is able to find an offending post, “it might be understood only by the victim or children around the victim because it’s coded in a language that only the kids understand.”
• Nonverbal behavior in schools and small groups can also be used as a form of bullying. “It can be hard to interpret if you’re not a child in the school but it can be something as innocuous as a look or a word said at a particular time that means something to the small group,” Donoghue says. “These behaviors are interpreted as a slight or a form of exclusion, but are difficult to pick up and are highly underreported. That’s what a lot of bullying looks like and it’s very challenging to work on.”

How does traditional school culture impact bullying?

Donoghue says sociologists are often interested in the way culture evolves in the school, looking specifically at systemic biases that operate on a group level. “You think about bias in terms of race, gender, but it’s also important to think about the ways schools can be heteronormative spaces in which traditional gender roles and sexual preferences are favored,” Donoghue says.

“That can often lead to a perception of a hostile environment for kids that don’t fit that norm, and the same can be said for kids with disabilities. They may feel they’re in an environment where their skills are less favored or less recognized.”

How can anti-bullying policies in schools be more effective?

Donoghue says that many anti-bullying policies in place today are designed in such a way that fit aforementioned bullying stereotypes, and, especially when such policies are harsh or severe, it can lead to a culture of underreporting among kids.

“Most states have a clear definition of what bullying is and by virtue of what a policy or law is supposed to do, it’s going to define behavior that is tangible,” Donoghue says. But in fact, kids who feel confined by a rule or policy will “adjust their behavior so their acts are not defined as bullying by the school policy.”

“What we should be doing is spending a lot of time talking to children about how to identify [bullying] and letting them know there’s an environment in which they can speak up and describe what they’re experiencing,” Donoghue says. One recommendation to improve anti-bullying policies in schools would be to have a constant, open channel for children, teachers, parents and school administrators to describe their experiences. “You can get that through interviews in schools or small group meetings that are less threatening than an obligatory annual anti-bullying meeting or public address that is not always a comfortable environment. Opening venues for people to just talk when there isn’t necessarily an incident or crisis at the school can be really important for learning more about what’s happening.”

To set up an interview, contact the Media Relations team.

Addressing and Using AI in School Curriculum

The advice I have for teachers is to approach AI as a learner. Whereas once a learner might wander into an old bookstore for discoveries, today an AI toolbox can provide similar discoveries.

• Identify two or three AI tools that are close to your discipline, passion or profession, and go ahead and play.
• Get the tool to work for you, and examine the output critically.
• Do this on your own and more importantly with students – nothing is more powerful than playing and creating with students, collaboratively, discovering possibilities, problems and roadblocks together. That’s authentic learning (and teaching).

The voices that we’re not hearing in the media are our adjunct professors, our general education instructors and our tutors. On the student side, we are not hearing enough from multilingual writers, poor students with limited digital access, students with disabilities, and African American and Hispanic students. To understand the impact that AI is having in higher education requires that the press investigate these instructor and student experiences.

–Emily Isaacs, Executive Director of the Office for Faculty Excellence

How Anti-Inclusion Efforts Impact Children

Without inclusion, children can’t live in their authentic selves and be in a safe space. If children don’t feel safe, they cannot learn. Children deserve inclusive policies so they can achieve their goals, live authentically and experience joy which is a fundamental human right.

–Patricia Virella, Professor, Educational Leadership

While the rise of anti-inclusion efforts has shifted to the public arena, the U.S. has a long tradition of excluding and misrepresenting marginalized groups in schooling.

Rather than viewing current anti-LGBTQAI and BIPOC inclusion as ignorance or implicit bias of individual teachers or parents, such efforts must be placed within the broader context of historical and institutional oppression and its role in U.S. schooling.

As these racist, trans and homophobic debates rage on in school board meetings and television screens across the country, students are watching and are being affected. A 2019 report from American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) named racism as a social determinant of health that “has a profound impact on the health status of children, adolescents, emerging adults, and their families.” Referring to racism as a “socially transmitted disease passed down through generations,” the AAP acknowledged that children who are the targets of racism have the most significant health impacts.

When an individual is exposed to discrimination, they experience stress responses including “feelings of intense fear, terror, and helplessness.” When students experience stress reactions to racist and anti-LGBTQAI rhetoric, it can be inferred that it will also impact “how the brain and body respond to stress, resulting in short- and long-term health impacts on achievement and mental and physical health.”

Taken as a whole, these anti-inclusion efforts go beyond the textbook and are issues of serious health concerns, particularly for children whose identities are already targeted through racism, homophobia and transphobia.

–Bree Picower, Professor, Teaching and Learning

Concerns Over Mental Health of Students

Anxiety and depression have been rising in young people over the past few years. Social media is considered one of the major factors behind this increase. Many students have traded in-person social connections for hours spent on their smartphones, and the result is that today’s students report being increasingly lonely. We know that close social relationships are important for our mental health and especially in a world in which young people report feeling increasingly stressed by concerns about gun violence, climate change, and the country’s political situation.

–Jeremy Fox, Associate Professor of Psychology

To set up an interview, please contact the Media Relations team.