Watching Adams Podcast - Meagan Smith: Campus Inequality and a Hostile Workplace
Channel: Emberwilde Productions
Date: 2017-08-19

Learn more at: https://watchingadams.org

At Adams State University, Chicago native Meagan Smith served as a student trustee and went on to be the first African-American professional staff member - working in the offices of finance and admissions.  She finally decided the combination of campus inequality, being "tokenized" as the only person of color in professional staff, her constant work overloads without equitable compensation, and a hostile workplace took an insurmountable toll on her health and well-being.  She put in her six weeks' notice but was told to clean out her desk the very next day.  There was no farewell gathering to send her off.

In this extended interview, Meagan shares her story across seven years at the university - including the many challenges she faced as a full time student and single mom, the accomplishments she made for students of color, and her efforts to blow the whistle on unethical policies which failed minority students and ultimately put the university on academic probation.