About the 2021 Lecture
National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman‘s poem "The Hill We Climb"—among the most powerful moments of the 2021 Presidential Inauguration—inspired the central inquiry of this year‘s Brown Lecture: Why are we still climbing the hill of educational equity 67 years after the U.S. Supreme Court‘s landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education? In her lecture, Lori Patton Davis challenges dominant narratives surrounding Brown and introduces perspectives that might help account for our lack of progress—perspectives that typically are overlooked or erased in wider Brown discourses. Her scholarly analysis contributes a robust understanding of Brown and its historical and contemporary meanings in the sociopolitical contexts of racism and White supremacy.

Patton Davis considers pressing questions: How can study of the circumstances that have intensified the COVID-19 pandemic fuel collective understanding of racial inequities and intersectional injustices in education? How might a critical race lens guide educators, policymakers, and researchers toward a more progressive realization of the promises of Brown? What would it take for education researchers, the majority of whom are situated in postsecondary settings, to engage in activism modeled after the work of communities still fighting for the racial and educational equity envisioned in Brown?

About Lori Patton Davis
A highly respected and accomplished researcher, Patton Davis is the co-author and co-editor of several important books on college student development and the author of numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and other academic publications appearing in highly regarded venues such as the American Educational Research Journal, the Journal of Higher Education, Urban Education, and the International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. Her research has been cited in multiple publications and funded by grants from the Spencer Foundation, the Lumina Foundation, the American Psychological Foundation, and numerous other organizations. Learn more

A moderated Discussion Forum
follows the Brown Lecture with an
opportunity for audience Q&A.

ASL and captioning provided.