PhD Project CEO: Despite Losing 1/5 Of Our School Support, ‘We’re Not Backing Down’

Alfonzo Alexander is only a couple of months into his job as CEO and president of The PhD Project, but he finds himself leading the organization through the most turbulent chapter in its 31 years.The nonprofit is under federal investigation by the Trump administration’s Department of Education, facing allegations it and dozens of the schools it worked with engaged in race-exclusionary practices that violate Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Several schools that have supported the organization in past have publicly disavowed it.

Asked what it’s like to become a target of conservative activists, who began attacking the PhD Project in January as part of a broader effort to discredit and dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion programs across U.S. higher education, “It’s uncertain. It’s scary,” Alexander admits. “But we’re focused on doing what’s right, and we believe we’ll be stronger for it.”

A BIG HIT TO THE NONPROFIT’S FINANCES

Launched in 1994, The PhD Project has helped increase the number of Black/African American, Latinx/Hispanic American, and Native American professors in U.S. business schools from just 294 to more than 1,700. Of those, over 1,300 are currently teaching, and another 250 are enrolled in business Ph.D. programs.

The nonprofit hosts an annual conference — held this year in Chicago — designed to introduce underrepresented professionals to academic careers. It also provides support for doctoral candidates through graduation and into faculty life.

The Department of Education’s investigation, announced March 10, names 45 business schools and universities affiliated with The PhD Project, including Yale, Cornell, MIT, NYU, and Berkeley. It claims the nonprofit’s programming and partnerships may unlawfully limit participation based on race. Conservative critics have gone so far as to accuse the organization of “racial segregation.”

Several schools, including Arizona State, Iowa, Kentucky, and Wyoming, have withdrawn their support. In all, about 20% of institutional partners have stepped back, forcing the nonprofit to confront both financial and reputational fallout. School support accounts for about a third of the organization’s total budget, Alexander says.

‘WE’RE BROADENING OUR TALENT PIPELINE’

Alexander, who officially took the helm as The PhD Project’s CEO and president in January after years of working with the nonprofit, says it had already begun reexamining its policies before the investigation was announced. In response to growing political pressure, the nonprofit’s leadership has updated its mission and vision statements and removed race and ethnicity from its application criteria.

“We’re broadening our talent pipeline,” Alexander tells Poets&Quants in an interview Tuesday (March 25). “We’re now focused on outcomes, not identity. The mission is to expand the pool of workplace talent by developing business school faculty who encourage, mentor, and support tomorrow’s leaders.”

Saying the Department of Education appears to be acting on outdated information, he is confident that the organization’s changes will satisfy legal scrutiny. “We are compliant with current federal guidelines, and we opened up this year’s conference to applicants from a wide range of backgrounds,” he says.

But the situation has taken a toll. “We’re going to have to seek new funding sources,” he acknowledges. The PhD Project has been reported to have a total budget of around $2 million, before the impact of the current controversy. “We’re tightening our belts, but we’re not giving up on any of our partners. We’re working to help them understand who we are now.”

STAYING THE COURSE

Despite the challenges, Alexander, remains optimistic. Since its inception, The PhD Project has achieved remarkable success: 1,700 graduates, a 90% Ph.D. completion rate (compared to a national average of 70%), and a 97% rate of graduates entering academia. Its network includes 71 current or former business school deans and eight university presidents.

“That’s impact,” says Alexander, who came to lead The PhD Project after 17 years at the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy, the last six as its chief ethics and diversity officer. “And it’s exactly why this work must continue.”

He also says that along with the increased scrutiny of the past two months, support from individuals and institutions has been overwhelming. “We’ve received emails, donations, social media messages, blog posts — people sharing what this organization has meant to them,” he says. “Even those who had to pause their support have done so apologetically.”

Alexander sees the current crisis as an opportunity. “We’re resetting,” he says. “We’re developing new programs that comply with federal law but still reflect our mission of cultivating talent and excellence. A year or two from now, we’ll look back and say: we came through this stronger.”

For now, The PhD Project is staying the course. “We believe in what we do. We believe in the power of education, representation, and mentorship,” Alexander says. “And we’re not backing down.”

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