We're Not OK: A Community of Healing

In the Season 2 opener, hosts, Dr. Antija Allen & Justin T. Stewart, have a powerful conversation with Dr. Sydney Freeman. Inspired by Dr. Freeman’s 2022 article, “I’m Scared that I Have Mentored My People into a Burning House | Diverse: Issues In Higher Education (diverseeducation.com),”they take a deeper dive into his experiences in Higher Education, some of the challenges as a Black faculty member, and how he questions if he is leading the new generation of educators on the right path.

Dr. Sydney Freeman, Jr. is a full professor within the Leadership and Counseling Department at the University of Idaho. Dr. Freeman is the first Black (American Descendant of Slaves) man
promoted to the rank of full professor at the University of Idaho. He is a prolific author with nearly 100 publications to his credit and has lectured and presented at institutions such as
Harvard University, Oxford University (UK), Jerusalem College of Technology (Israel), and RMIT University Vietnam, Saigon. He is nationally and internationally recognized for his scholarship in multiple areas including Education, History, Black studies, and Religion.

Dr. Freeman was honored as one of the Accomplished Under 40 award recipients for 2020 by the Idaho Business Review. In 2021, Dr. Freeman gave and received the Barbara Townsend Lecture
and Award from the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE). He is the founding director of the university’s Black History Research Lab and the recipient of the 2022 Carlos J. Vallejo Memorial Award for Exemplary Scholarship, awarded by the Multicultural/Multiethnic Education: Theory, Research and Practice group within the American Educational Research
Association (AERA). This past April, he was named one of the "Stellar 40 under 40” alumni of Oakwood University. In June, he received both the 2023 McInness/Ryan Mid-Career Leadership
award from the American Association of University Administrators and the Esto Perpetua Award from the Idaho State Historical Society for his scholarship related to preserving Black History. On September 8th, he will receive the 2023 American Association for State and Local History’s
Excellence in Leadership in History award on behalf of the University of Idaho Black History Research Lab. He recently earned the distinguished title of Fellow of the Royal Historical
Society (FRHistS) from the United Kingdom’s foremost professional association of historians and history. Under his leadership as the founder and director of the University of Idaho’s Black History Research Lab, the lab has received letters of commendation from the US Senate and the Governor of the State of Idaho. Dr. Freeman also received the Moscow, Idaho Sheikh Community Unity Award for 2023 which will include receiving a personal award from the mayor, his name will be engraved on the Award plaque in City Hall and on the rock in East City Park.

Home - Dr. Sydney Freeman Jr. (drsydneyfreemanjr.com)

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