I have been invited to a large number of colleges and universities in the United States, Asia, and the Middle East to speak about the deleterious effects of having an uncivil, non-collegial person as a member of a department. It has been shown that one toxic person can essentially ruin a once-great department: people in the department disengage, do not teach or conduct research as well as they did in the past, stay home more often, have greater stress, take more personal and sick days, etc. The following is a partial list of strategies that have proven successful since I began studying this phenomenon in 2001. Spoiler alert: the problem is getting much worse!
From “Rename and Remain” to “Reframe and Regain”: Reimagining Campus Inclusiveness
In my last article, I highlighted the crucial strategies of “person-first” and “targeted universalism” amid the wave of anti-DEI legislation in higher education. Initially, many of us embraced a “rename
Molly Kerby
July 7, 2025
