Six years ago, two college sweethearts moved from Alabama to Idaho. They both found roles as University of Idaho faculty members and avid activists for the Black community on and off campus. Those two sweethearts, now a married couple, are Sydney and Lynda Freeman.
Sydney holds both a master’s and doctorate in educational leadership from Auburn University while Lynda holds two master’s degrees, one in business administration and one in public health, from University of Alabama at Birmingham and a doctorate in health science from Nova Southeastern University.
Now, Sydney is an associate professor in the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences and Lynda is a clinical faculty member and academic specialist for the WWAMI Medical Education Program. Sydney is the only American Descendants of Slaves (ADOS) tenured faculty member at UI’s Moscow campus.
ADOS refers to descendants of enslaved people in North America who cannot trace their ancestral roots to specific countries or tribes of Africa. UI’s Moscow campus has faculty from the Caribbean and Africa who do have tenure.
Tenure is a privilege given to faculty after rigorous evaluations and service to the university, Sydney said. The process is different at each institution.
“And so that gives, in this context, it gives me the privilege to speak out on issues of race and racism in ways that maybe others may not feel as comfortable doing,” Sydney said.
Both Sydney and Lynda are involved in the UI Black Student Union and Black Lives Matter advocacy. The Black Student Union as of now is recognizing themselves as it is a new school year. And the Black Lives Matter Advisory Community are addressing issues and concerns unique to employees of African origin and promotes the full inclusion of people of Africa descent at UI. They are establishing their charter and inviting more Black faculty, staff and administration to join.
As part of her job, Lynda provides healthcare services to rural Black communities where people have limited access to high quality healthcare. But the challenges of finding resources as a Black community member are not limited to rural areas; they exist in Moscow, too.
Lynda takes care of her hair by herself because there are no salons nearby which cater to Black hair. Both Sydney and Lynda encourage Black students to join the Black Student Union so their voices are better represented on campus, but the couple also thinks more comprehensive therapy and counseling resources for racially diverse people would be a benefit to the area as well.
“It’s okay to try to find somebody else to talk to,” Lynda said. “I guess, the issue would be ‘is there anybody else available. In my experience, trying to find a therapist does get us around race and racism.”
Finding a counselor who relates to the experience of being Black in Idaho is especially important for students Lynda said. Ideally, this counselor would work full-time and online with faculty, staff and students, Sydney said.
“They could identify with our experiences to be at the table and a part of thinking about (the) Black population on campus, as a whole,” Sydney said. “I think that not just Black students, but Black faculty and staff may want to go (see) somebody. But who do they go to there’s no point person that they can go to if they have challenges?”
This article has been edited to correct formatting errors and factual inaccuracies regarding how many Black faculty members on the UI Moscow campus have tenure and how the process of tenure differs.
Emily Pearce can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @Emily_A_Pearce.