Chapter 10: Expressing Civic Virtue Inside a Crooked Room: A Call to Awareness for Women of Color at Predominantly White Institutions

One morning, as a first-year doctoral student, I found myself essentially chasing a young assistant professor across the parking lot. I was attempting to engage her in conversation and make a connection to a potential mentor. She perceivably was attempting to avoid getting engaged in a conversation that would interrupt her morning routine. I only got a few words from her and one glance as she hurried away from me. As I watched her enter the building that we both called our academic home, I thought “She’s going to be my friend, and doesn’t know it yet. I’ll follow up with an e-mail.” In the pages that follow, I explore this experience and others through a discussion of organizational citizenship and how Black women approach the task of claiming citizenship within predominantly White institutions (PWIs) of higher education. So, this chapter begins at the end of this story with two questions: How do we get to the point where (a) a Black female doctoral student is so desperate for connection that she is chasing potential mentors across campus, and (b) a Black female faculty member is so protective of her time that she is avoiding all possible distractions? This chapter offers perspectives that will help dissect the above scenario—in which one person takes on the role of chasing or seeking potential mentors and resources while another becomes chased, making their time a sought after commodity—and others like it.