Shannon Portillo: Save KU’s centers that espouse values, help form leaders (Column)

I never met Emily Taylor. But I can say confidently that I would not be the person I am today, neither professionally nor personally, without her influence. 

As a University of Kansas graduate student, I was privileged enough to work at the Emily Taylor Center for Women and Gender Equity (ETC). As part of this work, I staffed meetings of the ETC Board, watching and learning what it means to be a values-driven leader and advocate.

I heard story after story of her dogged pursuit of excellence and fairness, told by board members who had been her students or worked for her. It was said that she had amazingly high standards for the people she worked with, but that she was an incredibly pragmatic leader as well. In recent years, it seems the idea of pragmatism has developed an undertone of sacrifice or conciliation. 

I never met Emily Taylor, but her story illustrates what it means to compromise without compromising the values you bring to the table. She, and the many people she worked with and mentored, adapted without abandoning their efforts. 

Five years after graduating from KU, I returned as a faculty member and enjoyed the privilege of attending those same ETC board meetings, but this time as a board member myself. Today, I am the director of the Arizona State University School of Public Affairs where I strive every day to imbue my administrative approach with some of the same values I saw expressed around the table at those board meetings. Service, advocacy and mentorship are core to my approach to administration. 

I never met Emily Taylor, but the space that bears her name has proven itself a powerful environment in which KU’s espoused values can be made tangible and instructive. 

Like many alumni, I was shocked to learn of the current administration’s decision to close the ETC along with the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Center for Sexuality and Gender Diversity. 

I don’t believe the decision honors the rich history that established these spaces, and I don’t believe it demonstrates the kind of values-based leadership we need in this political moment. Each of these spaces emerged from KU students demanding staff, faculty, and the administration prioritize the needs of the most vulnerable and live up to values of access and inclusion. The leaders of that day recognized the value in engaging and listening to those advocates and working with them to create lasting solutions. 

This administration may say that this reorganization is a pragmatic response to the current political climate, but this isn’t pragmatism, it’s acquiescence. True leadership comes from engaging with our communities. It comes from hearing the demands of the most vulnerable — the communities that have historically and systematically been excluded — and asking hard questions: How can we stand together? How can we acknowledge and learn from our history? How can we work together to make sure we do better?

Honoring our history and the advocacy that created these spaces doesn’t mean we can’t change or evolve. The ETC, OMA and SGD have all evolved over time, but we should take those next steps with the communities we’re serving. Work with the students, staff, faculty and community members to respond to our current moment. Lead with values informed by our history and cultivated with our community. 

I benefit to this day from the lessons I learned sitting at those tables, hearing about the history of advocacy and leadership on our campus. I benefit to this day from the strong networks I was able to build in spaces that students demanded. I hope that KU can continue to have those spaces of learning and connection for the students, staff and faculty there now.

— Shannon Portillo serves as director and Lattie and Elva Coor Presidential Chair in the School of Public Affairs at Arizona State University. Portillo’s scholarship explores how formal policies and rules and informal social norms shape the work of public organizations. She is specifically interested in how racism and sexism impact organizations and workers’ experiences historically and currently. Her work helps scholars and practitioners understand how inequities have been institutionalized in public organizations. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, Women’s Foundation, Army Research Institute, and other entities. Her work has appeared in a broad array of academic and popular outlets. She has been recognized for her scholarship and service, recently being inducted into the National Academy of Public Administration, winning the Hobby Prize for Ethics, Leadership and Public Policy, and receiving the Steeples Service to Kansas Award. Her third book, “The Myth of Bureaucratic Neutrality: An Examination of Merit and Representation” (with co-authors Nicole Humphrey and Domonic Bearfield), was published with Routledge Press. Community service is a core value. Portillo served as co-chair of Gov. Laura Kelly’s Commission on Racial Equity and Justice and was elected chair of the Douglas County Board of County Commissioners.

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