A few years ago, April Hill was a leader of efforts to level the playing field for students in science and math at the University of Richmond.

The goal was to shake up curriculum and teaching practices such that students from groups underrepresented in so-called STEM fields — disciplines in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics — had the same opportunities to thrive as their affluent white counterparts.

In working toward that goal, Hill learned a lot.

“The most important lesson was that we had to move away from assumptions that students are lacking: lacking preparation, lacking background knowledge, lacking skills, lacking maturity, lacking discipline, lacking grit, lacking — fill in the blank,” Hill told a ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ audience on April 29.

April Hill speaks in a Pettengill Hall classroom during an April 29 event celebrating her appointment as the Wagener Family Professor of Equity and Inclusion in STEM. (Theophil Syslo/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

It’s on the institutional side of the ledger, instead, where the gaps appear. At Richmond, “we needed to move toward the truth that our learning environments are lacking: lacking inclusive pedagogies, lacking strategies to help students reflect on their learning, lacking diverse and reflective practitioners, lacking transparent assignments and evaluation criteria.”

Hill, whose own scientific research is in evolutionary genetics, now leads a comparable charge at ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝. Last fall she became the college’s inaugural Wagener Family Professor for Equity and Inclusion in STEM, an appointment celebrated with her address Monday to a packed Pettengill Hall classroom.

Hill used the occasion to describe programs that made a difference at Richmond and to share the stories behind insights that have helped make her a nationally recognized expert in helping all STEM students move, as her talk was titled, “from surviving to thriving.”

In front of a packed Pettengill Hall classroom, President Clayton Spencer welcomes listeners to April Hill’s inaugural lecture as Wagener Family Professor for Equity and Inclusion in STEM. (Rene Roy for ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

For Hill, it was “a giant relief” to learn about deficit-model thinking, as racial justice theorists label the presumption that marginalized groups inherently lack certain qualities. Why a relief? Because, in contrast to other manifestations of systemic racism in the U.S., faculty and staff in academe “can definitely do something about our learning environments.”

She declared, “We must rebuild our education system on evidence-based practices, de-centering white privilege, and letting go of old notions of how science and math instruction is done.”

Get SMART

At Richmond, with initial support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Hill and a few colleagues set out in 2013 to address institutional deficits by piloting a course. SMART — or “Science, Math and Research Training” — was created for first-years and combined the traditional introductory courses in biology, chemistry, and calculus into a yearlong program including labs.

“The course was designed for students who were traditionally underserved in STEM, but this was not a remedial course,” Hill told her ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ audience. “We expected that with the right learning environment, our students could succeed and be ready for the second-year STEM curriculum even if their high school preparation did not indicate that they’d likely be successful in our traditional courses.”

Here are some salient SMART characteristics:

• the course employed research examples relevant to students’ lives;
• students did meaningful research and communicated results publicly;
• the curriculum was carefully structured;
• students were empowered to find their voices and give feedback about the course;
• and in the design and execution of SMART, there was proactive consultation with staff and faculty colleagues of color.

Of the 21 students in SMART’s first year, Hill said, all proceeded to a second-year STEM curriculum, and 85 percent graduated in a STEM major. Enrollment in SMART has grown in the years since its inception, sections have been added, and student success has remained robust, with 85 percent staying in STEM and half being on track to graduate with a STEM degree.

Asked about their experience with SMART, “in particular their belief in their own abilities as scientists and mathematicians, students indicate confidence, determination and other aspects of thriving,” Hill said. Moreover, the course “helped transform other parts of the STEM curricula. And it has helped to attract a more diverse and equity-minded set of faculty, staff, and students.”

A different kind of life

Hill’s early years were turbulent. At age 3, her father away fighting in Vietnam, Hill’s mother died in a car crash. Her father’s readjustment to civilian life was troubled, and “as his life spiraled out of control, so did my childhood,” Hill told the ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ audience.

“Like so many other first-generation college students, going to college represented important opportunities for me to build a different kind of life.”

April Hill is shown during a session with students in her Carnegie Science Hall biology lab on April 25. “For me, it’s like being a coach,” she says. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Hill arrived at the University of North Texas as a homeless emancipated minor, living out of her car. She had done well in high school, but high school didn’t do well by her — the school was “rural and poorly performing,” she told the ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ audience, and didn’t prepare her adequately for college academics.

“My days as a student and my early career showed me that, like me, there were many students who continue to struggle in STEM, who left feeling like they didn’t have the ability or support to pursue their interest. And I was, and continue to be, disturbed by how many students are not thriving.”

Elmer W. Campbell Professor of Economics Lynne Lewis talks with April Hill (right) following Hill’s inaugural lecture as the Wagener Family Professor of Equity and Inclusion in STEM. (Rene Roy for ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

She explained, “A thriving student is engaged and energized by their learning. A thriving student is academically determined, investing effort and possessing an optimistic perspective. They’re involved in healthy relationships, and they have social support networks, and they want to make a difference in their communities. And they’re open to difference in others.”

Captivated by science, Hill struggled past barriers familiar to many first-gen students in STEM. She made it through thanks both to a chemistry professor who recognized her potential and to what Hill calls her own “growth mindset”: “I believed that I could get smarter and become a better problem-solver.” (Hill acknowledged in her talk that for all the challenges she faced in college, being white conferred advantages not enjoyed by students of color.)

That growth mindset got her to the University of Houston, where she earned a doctorate in biology with a focus on human genetics; to a postdoctoral position in molecular and developmental biology at Harvard Medical School, where she began her current line of research; and to faculty chairs at Fairfield University and then Richmond.

Time to take responsibility

Like many others, Hill was attracted to ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ because “women and people of color were not excluded from admission, even at ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝â€™ inception,” she said.

Hill in her Carnegie Science Hall laboratory. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

And like others, Hill has learned that success at ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ for those groups was elusive early on, and even today the college is grappling with institutional roadblocks that confront students of color, especially when it comes to STEM fields — hence Hill’s appointment.

While STEM degree attainment for ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ students overall “is among the highest in the nation,” with nearly 60 percent of STEM-interested students graduating with STEM degrees, Hill said that it’s a different picture for groups underrepresented in the sector.

“In the past decade, only 41 percent of first-generation students interested in STEM obtain STEM degrees,” she said, and the rate falls to 38 percent for the lowest-income students and 23 for black students.

Hill made sure to spotlight the college’s escalating efforts to address inequities in STEM training as well as other fields, from a $1 million HHMI Inclusive Excellence grant to conferences to a series of intensive racial justice trainings recently held for STEM faculty and for staff in several departments.

A student peruses the program for April Hill’s April 29 lecture on equity and inclusion in STEM. (Rene Roy for ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

But, she said, “It’s time for us to take responsibility for ensuring the successful outcomes for our STEM students by revising our curriculum and pedagogical practices, and examining our mindsets and biases so that all students have the opportunity, freedom and resources to thrive in STEM.”

Hill concluded, “While we do have much work to do, I believe that ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ can become a leader among its peers in supporting student success and thriving in STEM. I’m truly honored to be part of this endeavor.”

Driven by Sophie

In her welcome, ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ President Clayton Spencer told the story of the new chair. She noted that “in typical fashion, it centers on the creativity, persistence and courage of a ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ student, now an alum.”

That alumna is Sophie Wagener ’17, a biology major from Pasadena, Calif. In talking with ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ about a potential gift to The ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ Campaign two years ago, Sophie’s parents, Deborah Heitz and Shaw Wagener, “very graciously let us know this gift would need to be driven by Sophie.”

Prior to April Hill’s talk, Sophie Wagener ’17 (right) talks with Professor of Biology Donald Dearborn (left) as Vice President of College Advancement Sarah Pearson ’75 looks on. (Rene Roy for ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

In subsequent discussions with Spencer and others at the college, Sophie recalled some close friends from marginalized groups who had hoped to dedicate themselves to science at ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝, “only to reroute themselves out of science altogether early on.”

She was clear: In science and math, the ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ curriculum and teaching were not supporting all students equally for success.

Her declaration coincided with the college’s preparing a successful application for its HHMI grant, geared toward improving support for all students in STEM. “Sophie’s experience with her friends was mirrored in our institutional data,” Spencer said.

Initially, ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ proposed that the Wagener family gift would provide program and staff support for equity and inclusion in STEM. “Sophie listened very alertly and politely, and then, with great poise and finesse, told us we were missing the point entirely.”

It would take a faculty leader, she explained, to effect meaningful change in the academic workings of a college. The Wageners “were unwavering in their view of the obvious,” Spencer said. “We could not expect to make progress in the absence of credible academic leadership.

“So the Wagener Family Professorship of Equity and Inclusion in STEM is the very happy result.”

Professor of Asian Studies Brian Ruppert, who joined the ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ faculty in 2017-18, is the new Kazushige Hirasawa Professor of Japanese Studies.

Brian Ruppert explains what the appointment means to him:

I am honored to be named the Kazushige Hirasawa Chair at ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College and to help guide the Program in Asian Studies forward through the next series of steps in its illustrious and dynamic history.

I am especially honored to succeed the late Atsuko Hirai as only the second holder of the Hirasawa Professorship.

The late Kazushige Hirasawa was a true man of the modern era. He was a person who studied here, giving numerous talks to local civic groups, such as the Lewiston Grange and the South Paris Kiwanis Club, and writing articles forĚýTheĚýŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ Student. Afterward, he returned to Japan to serve as editor at TheĚýJapan Times, become a trusted news commentator, and earn a strong reputation as a scholar of Japan’s foreign policy in the increasingly globalized world.

Brian Ruppert, the new Kazushige Hirasawa Chair of Japanese Studies, poses with Garrett Anderson ’18 of Raleigh, N.C., a double major in Japanese and East Asian studies. Anderson, who studied in Japan in his junior year, will return to Japan for a fellowship in the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program. He’s been awarded one of JET’s most sought-after positions, as a coordinator for international relations, who assists local government offices in international exchange activities. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ College)

Thanks in part to the endowment honoring Kazushige Hirasawa and his family, ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ has a great tradition in East Asian studies, including Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese cultural studies. The program also supports South Asian studies, all seen within a global perspective. Our program also features excellent programs of Chinese and Japanese language study and of study abroad in East Asia.

About the Hirasawa Professorship

The chair was endowed in 1985 in memory of Kazushige Hirasawa ’36, Litt.D. ’61, by his widow, Asako Hirasawa P’65, L.H.D. ’88, and friends and colleagues in the United States and Japan who wished to honor his memory. The chair seeks to strengthen teaching and learning in Japanese and East Asian studies, and to recognize a faculty member whose teaching and research perpetuate the cross-cultural understanding that was the focus of journalist Kazushige Hirasawa’s life and work.

Asako Hirasawa passed away on March 5, 2018. The Hirasawas’ daughter was the late Yoko Hirasawa Munakata ’65.

About Brian Ruppert

Brian Ruppert, who chairs the Program in Asian Studies, joined the ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ faculty in September 2017. He comes to ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, where he chaired the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures and, in 2016–17, directed the university’s Year in Japan program.

A scholar of Japanese Buddhism and other premodern Japanese religions, Ruppert has conducted research stays in Japan totaling seven years, and he is known particularly for archival research in the Buddhist temples there and for his scholarship, including Jewel in the Ashes: Buddha Relics and Power in Early Medieval Japan, the co-authoredĚýA Cultural History of Japanese Buddhism, andĚýother publications on pre-modern Japanese religions in both English and Japanese.

At ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝, he teaches courses on the cultural history of Japan and Japanese religions as well as Japanese language. He is dedicated to helping students explore Japan and its place within East Asia and encouraging students to study abroad in Japan.

A member of the ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ faculty since 2004, Professor of Environmental Studies Holly Ewing is the new Christian A. Johnson Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies.

Endowed by the Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Foundation, now the Endeavor Foundation, this chair celebrates the central role of interdisciplinary studies in the liberal arts and recognizes a faculty member who has made transformative contributions to interdisciplinary teaching, learning, and scholarship.

Holly Ewing explains what the appointment means to her:

I was completely surprised to receive an envelope in the mail with the news of my appointment to the Christian A. Johnson Professorship â€” I had no idea how or when it passed from person to person. It meant a great deal to me to be able to share this letter with my family last Thanksgiving by physically handing it to my parents in a hospital room in Oklahoma during a period when my father was gravely ill and in and out of the hospital.

Over my years at ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝, faculty whose work I greatly respect — Jane Costlow, Michael Jones, and Rebecca Herzig — have held the professorship, so I am honored to be named the next holder of it.

Since so much of the expansion of knowledge has been happening in interdisciplinary spaces that we did not previously consider, it seems especially fitting that there is a professorship that acknowledges that work and the opportunities that exist in our scholarship, teaching, and even the organization of the academy.

Working with students, colleagues, and collaborators in these spaces and thinking about how they are structured and how we can create in them is some of the most satisfying work I do, so I am grateful to the Endeavor Foundation for the recognition of its importance.

About Holly Ewing

Holly Ewing uses the college’s Maine location to great advantage in her research and field courses. Her courses provide the natural science core of the Program in Environmental Studies, the college’s most interdisciplinary major.

Her research, often with student collaborators, investigates the interconnections among atmospheric, terrestrial, and aquatic ecosystems — such as how ecosystems in Acadia National Park respond to air pollution, or the processes of algae growth in Lake Auburn, the area’s source of drinking water.

In partnership with faculty colleague Rebecca Herzig, she has worked to improve faculty procedures for tenure and promotion reviews by regularizing the process for all faculty, better accommodating a diversity of ways people are appointed, and recognizing the role and contributions of interdisciplinary work. The recent chair of the Program in Environmental Studies, Ewing also is a member of the Program in Gender and Sexuality Studies.

A member of the ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ faculty since 1988, Dykstra Eusden ’80 is the new Whitehouse Professor of Geology.

Given by the late David C. Whitehouse ’36 and Constance T. Whitehouse in honor of their families, this endowed chair celebrates freedom of expression and inquiry; respect for human dignity; and exceptional teaching, scholarship, and service.

Dyk Eusden explains what the appointment means to him:

As a ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ student of the 1970s, I can’t remember ever thinking about who was or who wasn’t a named professor. However, I truly liked my professors, especially the geology faculty who would become my colleagues, the late Roy Farnsworth and John Creasy.

While at ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝, what mattered most was playing Ultimate, cross-country skiing, taking geology classes, doing thesis, and enjoying friends. As a faculty member, I’ve begun to notice that the list of named professors includes some of ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝’ finest and most dedicated faculty members: professors who have served their majors, colleagues, students, and the college very well.

The deep appreciation I have for being appointed to the Whitehouse Professorship is commingled with the somewhat weird sensation that the college selected me for this appointment.

By way of gratitude, I offer a promise: to keep taking ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ students out into the field — traveling by plane, van, kayak, or on foot — to study folds, faults, schists, granites, gabbros, and the many other excellent rocks exposed in the mountains and coastlines, from Yellowstone to Yarmouth Island.

About Dyk Eusden

Dyk Eusden ’80 is an intrepid field scientist who brings his students into the world so they can see, discover, learn from, and record geologic history, whether on Maine coastal islands or in the U.S. West.

He is an expert on regional geologic history and ancient tectonics of the Appalachians, as well as active tectonics in the South Island of New Zealand. A past recipient of the Kroepsch Award for Excellence in Teaching, he involves students as co-authors of papers, research posters, and mapping projects.

A leader in the sciences at ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝, he has served as department chair, division chair, and most recently, as co-chair of the STEM Facilities Review Committee that has developed options to meet the needs of current science programs as well as anticipated program growth. In 2017, Eusden and the Department of Geology hosted the New England Intercollegiate Geological Conference.