The College of the Holy Cross, a highly rated liberal arts institution in Worcester, Massachusetts, has announced promotions to associate professor for 10 members of its faculty. All 10 faculty members were awarded tenure. Three of the promotions went to women.
Kendy M. Hess was promoted to associate professor of philosophy. She joined the faculty at the college in 2009 after a 15 year legal career. Dr. Hess is a graduate of the University of Missouri and Harvard Law School. She also holds a master’s degree in liberal studies from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Lorelle D. Semley was named an associate professor of history. She joined the Holy Cross faculty in 2011 after teaching at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania and Wesleyan University in Connecticut. Dr. Semley is the author of Mother is Gold, Father is Glass: Gender and Colonialism in a Yoruba Town (Indiana University Press, 2011). Dr. Semley is graduate of Georgetown University, where she majored in French. She holds a master’s degree in African studies from Yale University and a second master’s degree and a Ph.D. in history from Northwestern University.
Melissa F. Weiner was promoted to associate professor in the department of sociology and anthropology. She joined the faculty at the college in 2011 after teaching in The Netherlands. Dr. Weiner is the author of Power, Protest, and the Public Schools: Jewish and African American Struggles in New York City (Rutgers University Press, 2010). Dr. Weiner is a graduate of Boston University and holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Minnesota.
These wonderful women deserve praise, but not the institution, which is anti-woman. Two equally wonderful academic women were also just DENIED tenure this year at College of the Holy Cross. Women are denied more than men at this institution; men are the heads of most powerful committees, men get the majority of promotions, and men make quite a bit more, on average than women faculty.
The tenure and promotion process at Holy Cross is highly problematic. It relies heavily on student evaluations which we know are gender biased and stacked against junior faculty who teach the majority of service courses. In addition, tenure files are are interpreted in relation to the desires of the department rather than based on the merits of the candidate. Women and faculty of color, in particular, take the brunt of the scrutiny within a culture where fitting in to a cookie cutter “elite” institutional ideal trumps capability and dedication.