The University of Southern California in Los Angeles has announced that it is establishing a new Race and Equity Center. The center will focus on people of color, racial inequities, immigration, and other topics. Faculty from disciplines across the USC campus will study racial issues and seek solutions to some of the most pressing problems facing the United States.
The university has hired Shaun R. Harper to lead the new initiative. Dr. Harper will also be the Clifford and Betty Allen Professor in Urban Leadership at the university. He will join the faculty at Southern Cal on July 1.
Currently, Professor Harper is the director of the Center for the Study of Race and Equity at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He joined the faculty at Penn in 2007. Earlier he taught at the University of Southern California and Pennsylvania State University.
Professor Harper is the author or editor of 11 books including Advancing Black Male Student Success From Preschool Through PhD (Stylus Publishing, 2015). His next book, Scandals in College Sports: Legal, Ethical, and Policy Case Studies (Routledge, 2017), is scheduled to be published in February.
Dr. Harper is a graduate of Albany State University in Georgia. He earned a master’s degree and a doctorate in higher education from Indiana University.
