Black teachers are vital assets. Yet nationally, less than 2 percent of all public school teachers are Black men. Studies also show that Black students who are exposed to a Black teacher are up to 29 percent more likely to enroll in college.

Sharif El-Mekki is committed to raising the profile of Black educators—and to building a Black teacher pipeline by getting more Black students to and through college and into the classroom as teachers through the organization he founded, the Center for Black Educator Development in Philadelphia.

Three years ago this week, the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer galvanized a national conversation about law enforcement and systemic racism. Students and others on college campuses became increasingly adamant that higher education needed to rethink its approach to policing. Many college leaders were receptive.

But even though some higher ed officials gestured toward broader plans to reform their police departments, sweeping changes haven’t occurred—and in fact, some schools may be moving in the opposite direction.

After two years of free-falling college and university enrollments, head counts seem to be settling into a slow descent, according to a new report on spring enrollment data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.

Still, recovery remains elusive, and demographic shifts threaten to keep it that way.