ST. PAUL, Minn. — Macalester College will host the 13th Annual Kurth-Schai Education & Advocacy Lecture on Thursday, November 6, featuring Dr. Anthony Jack, a renowned scholar on educational equity.
The event will take place at 4:45 p.m. in the John B. Davis Lecture Hall in the Ruth Stricker Dayton Campus Center.
Dr. Jack, an award-winning scholar and author, will present “Class Dismissed: When Colleges Ignore Inequality and Students Pay the Price,” addressing the challenges faced by students from groups historically underrepresented in higher education. The lecture will be followed by a book signing and reception.
“Dr. Jack’s upcoming lecture is incredibly exciting,” said Dr. Brian Lozenski, professor and chair of the Educational Studies Department at Macalester. “Over the years, this event has allowed Macalester and the broader community to engage with the work of some of the most influential and foundational scholars in education. We expect this year’s lecture to live up to this wonderful tradition.”
A Harvard University alumnus, Dr. Jack’s research focuses on the diverse experiences of lower-income undergraduates, distinguishing between the “Doubly Disadvantaged”—students from public high schools—and the “Privileged Poor”—those who attended boarding, day, and preparatory schools.
His work has been featured in publications such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, and The New Yorker.
“Dr. Jack’s scholarship is timely and necessary in our current political moment,” Lozenski said. “With broader attacks on the legitimacy and purpose of higher education, we are susceptible to losing track of our stated mission and values. Dr. Jack serves as the conscience of higher education, reminding us to not abandon the most vulnerable among our student populations. With increasing federal cuts, institutions will be tempted to eliminate vital programs for those with lesser power and influence. His laser focus on first-generation, working-class, and students of color challenges all of our institutions to live up to a higher standard of equity despite the attacks on our values and purse strings. I expect this challenge to come through clearly in Dr. Jack’s lecture.”
The Kurth-Schai Education & Advocacy Lecture is presented by Macalester’s Educational Studies Department and co-sponsored by Institutional Equity, Student Affairs, the President’s Office, the Provost’s Office, the Mahmoud El-Kati Lectureship in American Studies Fund, Program Board, and the Kofi Annan Institute for Global Citizenship.
The lecture series, renamed in 2022 to honor its founder and long-time Educational Studies faculty member Dr. Ruthanne Kurth-Schai, has a history of engaging the community with influential scholars in education. Past speakers include Alfie Kohn, Ernest Morrell, Eve Tuck, K. Wayne Yang, and Tara Yosso.
“Dr. Jack agreeing to come to Macalester shows that he recognizes that our aims are in alignment, and that Macalester is a place where his vision of inclusivity and equity can be realized,” Lozenski said.
The Kurth-Schai Education & Advocacy Lecture continues to position education as a site of possibility, transformation, and social equality.
“Dr. Jack’s scholarship has implications beyond higher education,” Lozenski said. “His emphasis on the distance between our mission and our real-world practices can be applied to organizations, businesses, religious institutions, labor unions, and most other collaborative formations. I encourage anyone interested in social equality to attend this talk. We live in a highly classed society that continues to create more distance between the haves and the have nots. Dr. Jack’s work is demanding that we keep track of the most vulnerable among us and work diligently to eliminate these politically-created gaps.”
About Macalester College
Macalester College, located in St. Paul, Minn., is a private liberal arts institution known for its commitment to academic excellence, internationalism, multiculturalism, and civic engagement. Founded in 1874, Macalester offers a rigorous curriculum and fosters a diverse and inclusive community.
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