Associate Provost for Campus Equity and Inclusion Terrance Pendleton was in the middle of leading an outdoor activity as president of his undergraduate college’s math club when he was approached by police. He fit the description of a man who was breaking into cars on campus – a Black male in jeans and a white t-shirt – and the police wanted to take him in for questioning.
“It was so dehumanizing,” Pendleton said. “Everyone was watching this in live-action…I was aware of my rights and knew that he did not have the just cause to throw me in the back of a police car and take me in for questioning. I think about those kinds of events, and I think about how much I want no other student, no matter where they are or what they look like or how they identify, to ever feel like their right to belong somewhere is challenged or is at risk of being taken away.”
Pendleton, who is originally from Alabama, was appointed by Provost Sue Mattison as Associate Provost for Campus Equity and Inclusion for this school year. According to Mattison, Drake faculty suggested a national search to fill this position. However, Pendleton agreed to fill the role for a year while it is decided how the hiring process will be structured.
“He was pretty happy doing what he was doing, and so when I approached him, he thought it sounded interesting,” Mattison said. “And so he agreed to step into the role. He may decide that this is something that is interesting and exciting, and we’ll see how the year goes.”
Pendleton also serves as an associate professor of mathematics at Drake. He has conducted research on math for social justice, which has given him background information on issues regarding diversity, equity and inclusion.
This research includes a project that mathematically analyzed the spread of gentrification in Des Moines and other issues of housing security. Pendleton’s research, which started as an independent study project for a student, turned into a paper that has been submitted to the Journal of Differential Equations and is currently in a revision stage.
“I work on problems that allow students to read and see the world better with mathematics,” Pendleton said. “As an applied mathematician, one of the things that I enjoy doing, and I have a passion for, is taking pressing questions or worldly concerns and trying to think about how we look or analyze that question from a mathematical perspective.”
Pendleton is also involved with Crew Scholars, an academic and leadership program for students of color at Drake. He originally served as a Crew Mentor, then became the Crew Faculty Director, meaning he teaches one of the Crew classes on campus.
“I’ve always had a passion for creating a more inclusive space in mathematics and how we tap or reach people who feel like they don’t see themselves as mathematicians…” Pendleton said. “Crew is a great way to do that because the Crew space looks a lot different than the classes I usually teach.”
As Associate Provost for Campus Equity and Inclusion, Pendleton’s office provides a variety of resources for students and faculty. This includes the Unity Roundtable, the Slay Fund for Justice, faculty and staff affinity groups and other resources. He is also currently working on developing a bias-reporting website to investigate and intervene on acts of bias on campus. He hopes that this website will be accessible within the next month.
“At this point, my position is 60% kind of going out on campus and doing trainings and meeting with students and faculty and talking about DEI,” Pendleton said. “30% is me getting on-boarded into this position, so going to workshops and meeting with a variety of people to discuss initiatives that we’re hoping to support at Drake and then 10% is kind of working on some of my own initiatives and trying to think about what stamp [I would] like to put on this position.”
Moving forward, Pendleton emphasizes that he is not formally trained in DEI, but he is looking to build on his lived experiences to learn more about the topic.
“All of us, no matter where we are in our DEI journey, still have room to grow and still have room to learn,” Pendleton said. “And given that we’re in college to learn, that’s a really nice kind of segue into those initiatives.”
