Dear Higher Education: Letters from the Social Justice Mountain

Speaking for Ourselves: High-Achieving Black Women Navigating Academic Milestones

Chelsea T. Smith

College of William and Mary

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5350-4427

Jayla Moody Marshall

North Carolina Central University

https://orcid.org/0009-0008-2494-6921

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Abstract

This letter centers on the experiences of Drs. Jayla Moody Marshall and Chelsea T. Smith, two Black women who have been identified as ‘high achievers’ since early in their educational journey. The open response framed using Black Feminist Thought (Collins 1986, 1990) illuminates a space for the authors to reflect on their experiences traversing academic milestones while bearing the weight of both internal and external validation. Further, they document how pervasive white-centric academic norms have served as barriers to how their success has been measured. They call on and call out academia on the ways in which it has perpetuated hegemonic metrics of success rooted in whiteness, patriarchy, and other oppressive practices that often leave Black women unheard or misheard. Tracing their navigation of academic milestones as students and academicians, the authors reflect on the transformative process in which they begin to resist the uneven metrics that were shaped by gendered racism, misogynoir, and white fragility, and begin to let their voices speak for themselves. They end this letter with three simple requests for Higher Education: 1) Center their humanity. 2) Recognize their knowledge and contributions as valid, and 3) Stop posturing white-centric standards of practice as the prototype and sole metric of success. 

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Author Biographies

Chelsea T. Smith , College of William and Mary

Dr. Chelsea T. Smith (she/her/hers) is currently a Clinical Assistant Professor in the School of Education at William and Mary.  Her teaching, mentorship, and scholarship center on supporting the experiences of Black women and graduate students on college campuses. These interests and passions are catalyzed by her identities and experiences as a first-generation Black woman at historically White institutions as a student, educator, and administrator. Dr. Smith considers herself a scholar-practitioner who is committed to making tangible changes in the education landscape supported by relevant scholarship. Dr. Smith has experience in a variety of teaching, research, and practitioner positions, including admissions, learning communities, peer mentorship, and graduate student support. She has also worked with a number of nonprofit and pre-college programs to support high school and college students. Chelsea earned her doctorate in Education Leadership, Policy, and Human Development from NC State, her master's in Student Affairs from Iowa State University, and her bachelor's degree in History from the University of Georgia.

Jayla Moody Marshall, North Carolina Central University

Dr. Jayla Moody Marshall (she/her/hers) is an Assistant Professor of Higher Education at North  Carolina Central University. Her scholarship centers purpose development among marginalized  college students, investigating how institutional structures shape their journeys through higher education and influence their opportunities to thrive during and after college. Through critical, qualitative inquiry, she investigates how care, joy, and community function as tools for  transformation. Her research also explores institutional practices in graduate education, including mentorship and holistic student development. Jayla earned her doctorate in Education Leadership, Policy, and Human Development from NC State, her master's in communications from Georgia State University, and her bachelor's degree in journalism and global development studies from Mercer University.