Author: Dr. Julian Vasquez Heilig
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In August 2025, George Mason University’s first Black president, Gregory Washington, faced a demand that speaks volumes about race, power, and leadership in higher education. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights wrongly concluded that GMU’s faculty diversity practices violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. As part of a proposed resolution,…
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You may have thought I’ve been blogging too much about dictators and authoritarianism lately. There is a reason for that. Today, Donald Trump looked into the cameras and said the quiet part out loud: “Maybe people like dictators.” Are you paying attention? This is how authoritarianism works—not in a single cataclysmic moment, but in small escalations…
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The conversation started like so many others. Someone in a leadership position, someone committed to justice and positive change, reached out to talk about the pressure they were facing. A campaign of criticism had begun to circle. The local press had picked up a selective narrative. A few influential figures were stirring doubt about their…
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There is a certain kind of leader who is deeply committed to making sure nothing really changes. They are often praised for their ability to “keep the trains running on time” and for their calm focus on efficiency and return on investment. They measure success in the neatness of spreadsheets, the tidiness of processes, and…
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Audiences can always sense when a speaker is recycling a talk or going through the motions. The slides look generic, the stories do not quite connect, and the message hovers above the realities of the room. That is why I never give the same keynote twice. Every audience, whether teachers in Santa Barbara, community advocates…
Cloaking Inequity 