EPISODE · Oct 18, 2025 · 1H 7M
Beverly Daniel Tatum — Peril and Promise: College Leadership in Turbulent Times - with Ayesha Rascoe
from Politics and Prose Presents · host Politics and Prose
Higher education is under assault from all sides. Scandals, protests, and dramatic resignations dominate the news cycle, and the pressure has grown so severe that the average tenure of university presidents has fallen to less than six years. Even so, Peril and Promise insists, American universities provide the solutions to the ignorance and division that plague our society--but only if wise, courageous leaders step up.Blending insights from social science with many years of experience as a college president at Spelman and Mount Holyoke Colleges, Beverly Daniel Tatum celebrates the power of leadership to make higher education a force for good. Alongside an unflinching look at the financial challenges, political attacks, and social problems that besiege today's college campuses, she offers real-life leadership examples of institutions that have overcome the steepest odds and produced real transformation in ideas, student bodies, and society at large.At once conversational and contemplative, Peril and Promise reckons with the complexities of higher education in our time, while exhorting future leaders to take up the mantle and chart a path forward for our campuses and country.Beverly Daniel Tatum, PhD, is president emerita of Spelman College. She served as the ninth president of Spelman from 2002-2015. Her visionary leadership as president was recognized in 2013 with the Carnegie Academic Leadership Award. In 2014 she received the Award for Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to Psychology, the highest honor presented by the American Psychological Association. The author of four books, including the New York Times-bestselling Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?, she lives in Atlanta, Georgia.Tatum is in conversation with Ayesha Rascoe, the host of Weekend Edition Sunday and the Saturday episodes of Up First. Prior to her role as host, Rascoe was a White House Correspondent. She covered three presidential administrations. As a part of the White House team, she was also a regular on the NPR Politics Podcast. Before joining NPR, Rascoe spent the first decade of her career at Reuters, rising from a news assistant to an energy reporter to eventually covering the White House. While at Reuters, Rascoe covered some of the biggest energy and environmental stories of the past decade, including the 2010 BP oil spill. Rascoe is also the editor of HBCU Made: A Celebration of the Black College Experience, a book of essays about the impact of historically Black colleges and universities. She's a proud graduate of Howard University.https://politics-prose.com/book/9781541606616?ic_referral=fYpUsA_Z6z8N4W-7eMboucdXMuiZvVcz7apky8F-jUAwM114nJBpxpGNPuswzKApiuKNfmag6oLfHd4Kf5uDZyeCX3k8pYOYhjHkbi2PHeCdHbWxXXo9TWJ2jPq1kyCxzMrN4Ec
What this episode covers
Higher education is under assault from all sides. Scandals, protests, and dramatic resignations dominate the news cycle, and the pressure has grown so severe that the average tenure of university presidents has fallen to less than six years. Even so, Peril and Promise insists, American universities provide the solutions to the ignorance and division that plague our society--but only if wise, courageous leaders step up.Blending insights from social science with many years of experience as a college president at Spelman and Mount Holyoke Colleges, Beverly Daniel Tatum celebrates the power of leadership to make higher education a force for good. Alongside an unflinching look at the financial challenges, political attacks, and social problems that besiege today's college campuses, she offers real-life leadership examples of institutions that have overcome the steepest odds and produced real transformation in ideas, student bodies, and society at large.At once conversational and contemplative, Peril and Promise reckons with the complexities of higher education in our time, while exhorting future leaders to take up the mantle and chart a path forward for our campuses and country.Beverly Daniel Tatum, PhD, is president emerita of Spelman College. She served as the ninth president of Spelman from 2002-2015. Her visionary leadership as president was recognized in 2013 with the Carnegie Academic Leadership Award. In 2014 she received the Award for Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to Psychology, the highest honor presented by the American Psychological Association. The author of four books, including the New York Times-bestselling Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?, she lives in Atlanta, Georgia.Tatum is in conversation with Ayesha Rascoe, the host of Weekend Edition Sunday and the Saturday episodes of Up First. Prior to her role as host, Rascoe was a White House Correspondent. She covered three presidential administrations. As a part of the White House team, she was also a regular on the NPR Politics Podcast. Before joining NPR, Rascoe spent the first decade of her career at Reuters, rising from a news assistant to an energy reporter to eventually covering the White House. While at Reuters, Rascoe covered some of the biggest energy and environmental stories of the past decade, including the 2010 BP oil spill. Rascoe is also the editor of HBCU Made: A Celebration of the Black College Experience, a book of essays about the impact of historically Black colleges and universities. She's a proud graduate of Howard University.https://politics-prose.com/book/9781541606616?ic_referral=fYpUsA_Z6z8N4W-7eMboucdXMuiZvVcz7apky8F-jUAwM114nJBpxpGNPuswzKApiuKNfmag6oLfHd4Kf5uDZyeCX3k8pYOYhjHkbi2PHeCdHbWxXXo9TWJ2jPq1kyCxzMrN4Ec
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Beverly Daniel Tatum — Peril and Promise: College Leadership in Turbulent Times - with Ayesha Rascoe
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