Maggie Young
    News Editor

Chancellor Frank Gilliam spoke with The Carolinian on Friday to discuss his interest and life in the academy.

Gilliam is UNC-Greensboro’s first male chancellor since 1994 and the university’s first African American chancellor in its history.

Throughout his academic career, he has been an advocate for minorities, and he has taught and written on African-American politics, the media and minorities, and minority empowerment, among other things.

Across the nation, minorities are significantly underrepresented in academia. According to a 2015 report from the National Center for Education Statistics through the U.S. Department of Education, 84 percent of full-time professors at degree-granting, post-secondary institutions across the nation are White, while 6 percent are Black, 5 percent are Hispanic, 10 percent are Asian/Pacific Islander, and just a little over 1 percent are classified as Native American/Alaskan Native/Other.

Gilliam spoke with The Carolinian about this gap in higher education while also speaking on his progress in academia from professor to university leader and the obstacles inherent in such a journey.

Gilliam’s initial interest in the academy was catalyzed by an unexpected event during his college career — a football injury.

He described his epiphany, saying, “I was playing Colorado my senior year, got my ribs broken, and as I was flying back from Boulder on the team plane I was doing my homework and thought, ‘I think I’m going to take the GRE.’”

His life as a student started at Drake University where he graduated in 1977 with a political science degree. Six years later, he graduated from the University of Iowa with his Ph.D., also in political science.

In his academic career, he has been a professor at universities such as the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of Wisconsin; he was also a visiting professor at the University of Dar Es-Salaam in Tanzania.

Although highly accomplished, Gilliam recognizes that, as a man of color, he has been lucky in the sorts of endeavors and goals he has worked towards.

“I’ve been blessed in my life. [It’s] fortunate that I have a family where I was afforded a lot of opportunities and was exposed to a lot at a pretty young age,” he said.

Gilliam also noted that his father played a role in his success and interest in academia, saying, “My dad had been a pioneer himself. That help[s], if you have a role model in your house.”

According to Gilliam, mentors and role models are not limited to the household. Within an academic career he iterated the importance of being open to all kinds of learning.

“Mentoring can come from all kinds of different places…It can come from children, it can come from someone you work with or work for,” he said.

He told The Carolinian that “[he] had a lot of support at UCLA,” but he noted that being an African-American in the academy is not always smooth sailing.

He recalled several instances where he was singled out because of the color of his skin.

“I was stopped on UCLA campus when I was a professor and was questioned about stealing my own car,” he said.

Beyond being stopped by authorities, Gilliam indicated that even within administration and academic committees, he’s “been made to feel unwelcome more than once or twice.”

With regards to criticism, the crucial piece of advice he emphasized for minorities coming up in academia and in the professional world in general was that “you just can’t internalize it all because otherwise it will eat you alive.”

He stated that a real threat of being a minority in academia is the pressure of being perfect or even just good enough.

He argued that when it comes to racial or gender majorities there’s not the assumption of potential failure; with minorities, however, he said, “We have to prove that we can [do the same things].”

He advised that those who will be successful will be the ones who “do not give in to…the slings and arrows of injustice.”

Chancellor Gilliam did offer encouragement to members of minority groups who strive towards their goals, be it in academia or otherwise.

“Now, there are [minorities] in positions of authority, that should signal to them that they, too, can live out their ambitions,” Gilliam said.

He also continued to stress the importance of self-confidence and belief in one’s own abilities when dealing with obstacles that may slow the progress of achieving a goal.

“You have to understand that there will be moments when you wonder if you fit in, but come armed with the belief that you are there because you belong — you’re supposed to be there. Just because people don’t look like you doesn’t mean that that’s not for you,” Gilliam said. “You’re there because you’ve earned your way there.”