UW Bothell Chancellor Champions For Diversity Among College Leadership: The under-representation of minorities, particularly Asian-Americans, in U.S. college presidencies can be due to the fact that many potential minority leaders in the faculty ranks are “ignored” and “overlooked,” said University of Washington Bothell Chancellor Dr. Kenyon S. Chan, who encourages chancellors to think hard about how they develop leadership on their campuses.
“There’s a lack of real mentorship” for minority faculty who want to move up in the ranks, Chan said during a meeting Tuesday with the editorial board of Diverse. “People of color are overlooked.”
For Asian-Americans, particularly, “I think a lot of it has to do with being ignored and being invisible as a potential leader for an institution,” he said. “Many institutions have never had a person of color as a leader. … Asian-Americans are still quite rare, and quite unique.”
