Why Higher Ed Lost Trust ... and How It Can Win It Back

You know, one of the pieces of your dissertation research, it led with the word positionality.

And I think what we're talking about here touches on that idea of positionality of where you stand shapes what you can see.

So where do you stand in the public trust debate and what blind spots come with where you are right now?

So I'm joining you today from my home in St. Paul, Minnesota.

I have very recent experiences in my community that shape the personal trust that I have in institutions like police, institutions like government, right? Things like the killing of George Floyd and the immigration and customs raids have happened in my backyard.

And the activism of my neighbors, too, shapes the trust that I have in we, the people, in the potential of our democracy to work in local communities.

And in the knowledge I have that, for the most part, democracy has not been fully realized across the United States for many populations.

So that's one geographic aspect of my positionality.

I mentioned, too, that I was raised in rural Minnesota.

I grew up on a farm.

I hold beliefs and values about home, about work ethic, about relationships with others that impact society.

my work ongoing and my position on public trust.

In the trust agenda that we released, we talked a lot about the politics of resentment, which is a concept described by Katherine Kramer.

It's this idea that people in rural communities are somewhat resentful of colleges and universities because they have not had personal experiences with them.

And the personal experiences that they have had have been shaped by concepts of elitism, that institutions are somehow other than from their experience rather than of their local community.

And for me,

that's not an abstract concept.

The politics of resentment are real and lived because my family is still part of that rural

community that feels underserved by higher education.

At the same time, I'm positioned as a well-educated person who believes strongly in the value of higher education.

I can't undo that and see what my life would be like without that experience.

I've had two medically complicated pregnancies, and me and my children received life-saving health care treatments.

I trust and value science and medicine given those experiences.

So there are all of these both identity elements and experiences that shape where I stand and the way I see the world.

And that's really what I meant by positionality.

You know, one of the pieces of your dissertation research, it led with the word positionality.

And I think what we're talking about here touches on that idea of positionality of where you stand shapes what you can see.

So where do you stand in the public trust debate and what blind spots come with where you are right now?

So I'm joining you today from my home in St. Paul, Minnesota.

I have very recent experiences in my community that shape the personal trust that I have in institutions like police, institutions like government, right? Things like the killing of George Floyd and the immigration and customs raids have happened in my backyard.

And the activism of my neighbors, too, shapes the trust that I have in we, the people, in the potential of our democracy to work in local communities.

And in the knowledge I have that, for the most part, democracy has not been fully realized across the United States for many populations.

So that's one geographic aspect of my positionality.

I mentioned, too, that I was raised in rural Minnesota.

I grew up on a farm.

I hold beliefs and values about home, about work ethic, about relationships with others that impact society.

my work ongoing and my position on public trust.

In the trust agenda that we released, we talked a lot about the politics of resentment, which is a concept described by Katherine Kramer.

It's this idea that people in rural communities are somewhat resentful of colleges and universities because they have not had personal experiences with them.

And the personal experiences that they have had have been shaped by concepts of elitism, that institutions are somehow other than from their experience rather than of their local community.

And for me,

that's not an abstract concept.

The politics of resentment are real and lived because my family is still part of that rural

community that feels underserved by higher education.

At the same time, I'm positioned as a well-educated person who believes strongly in the value of higher education.

I can't undo that and see what my life would be like without that experience.

I've had two medically complicated pregnancies, and me and my children received life-saving health care treatments.

I trust and value science and medicine given those experiences.

So there are all of these both identity elements and experiences that shape where I stand and the way I see the world.

And that's really what I meant by positionality.