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From Rachel Toor

In The Sandbox, we’re interested in trying new things, playing, doing stuff differently. 

The goal is to allow leaders to speak in their authentic voices about things that really matter in their lives—their real lives, not just their presidential roles. When I asked women of color presidents to comment on how they were feeling these days, the real stuff came flowing in.

We have a growing cohort of leaders who were, like many of the students we say we're most eager to serve—because we've all seen research about how a college education can foster upward social mobility—first-gen low-income kids. And an increasing number of presidents and chancellors grew up in homes where English was not their mother's tongue. Or their father's.

Some of these leaders have gone to school, even graduate school, with English as their second language. They have risen to the top of U.S. institutions of higher education. 

Isn't that one of the things that makes America great? 

If you don't know Spanish, sure, you can ask your buddy Google or your frenemy ChatGPT to translate this issue for you. 

Or, in a more inclusive gesture, maybe forward this email to a Hispanic colleague, faculty member, trustee, or student and use it start a conversation about what it's like to be them. What you learn may surprise you. 

We believe in diversity, equity, and inclusion. We believe in access. We know the field isn’t level but think everyone should get to play—not just those with pedigrees and good breeding but also the scrappier ones who may have had a rougher start in life. This applies to institutions (community colleges as well as research universities), leaders (the Ivy-all-the-ways and those who came from less “traditional” backgrounds), and animal companions (we're not speciest).

In that spirit, we also know that not all students have access to family members with high-flying connections and that not all faculty members believe part of their job is to prepare students for what comes after they leave campus. We know that campus career centers are often under-visited. We know that parents would prefer their kids graduate and get good jobs rather than becoming fluent in discussing the teleological suspension of the ethical or nonlinear dynamics. 

And really, we know that most students (and plenty of grownups, including professors and presidents) struggle to present themselves in writing in ways that get a reader on their side. It's hard to write like a human for humans. 

[Taking advantage of my platform to do some icky book promotion.}

I was asked to write this book by my editor at University of Chicago Press because her friends in various industries complained that kids today are arrogant, narcissistic little jerks who write horrible cover letters where they claim, idiotically, they are the most qualified candidate for a job. My goal was to help recent grads (and others) understand what they may not have been taught and help to level a playing field that is for some of our students more like a ski slope. 

If you know of someone searching for a job, or any career centers looking for resources, or a (short, snappy) book to give to faculty members who have never worked in the "real world," or a graduation gift for your own child who refuses to leave the nest, or even a pick-me-up for a current president who wants out of their current (red?) state, I learned some things that might be of use and will be happy to send you a PDF (of the uncorrected page proof, if you know the name of my dog). Email me. I fail at trying to be the author who confidentally says, "Buy my book." But I do believe this info will help lots of people who really need help.