"Don’t Lose Hope”: Dr. Littisha A. Bates on Academic Freedom, Faith, and the Next SNCC Generation

In this powerful year-end conversation, Eric Ellis and Tommie Lewis welcome Dr. Littisha A. Bates, Senior Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives and Academic Affairs at the University of Cincinnati College of Arts & Sciences. Dr. Bates brings clarity, courage, and heart as she shares how her upbringing on Chicago’s South Side shaped her leadership, her commitment to equity, and her belief that you can be fully yourself and fully intellectual at the same time.

Together, they explore what’s happening in higher education right now, why academic freedom matters, and how fear-based narratives are impacting classrooms, faculty, and students. Dr. Bates offers a grounded perspective on authenticity with wisdom, the role of faith without performative religion, and why this generation of young people will not be silenced, reminding many of the student-led movements that changed history.

A Special Year-End Thank You to Our Community

This episode also marks the final Diversity Conversations show of the year and the close of seven years and more than 375 episodes of courageous dialogue.

Eric and Tommie take a moment to thank the Diversity Conversations community, the people who show up week after week from across the country and around the world. Your voices, reflections, questions, and presence are what make these conversations possible. This show exists because of you, and it continues because of the community we’ve built together.

As we head into a new year, we are deeply grateful for the trust, engagement, and collective wisdom that lives here.

Key moments you’ll hear in this episode:

• “The streets had a code… they protected the smart kids.”
• Why “indoctrination” claims don’t hold up in real classrooms
• The tension between authenticity and professional survival (and how to navigate it with wisdom)
• Why students are stepping up when institutions step back
• Faith, works, and leadership in a moment of national confusion
• A closing message you’ll want to share: “Don’t lose hope.”

About our guest
Dr. Littisha A. Bates is a sociologist and higher education leader committed to expanding access, equity, and belonging in academic spaces. She speaks candidly about identity, community, and the responsibility of leaders to build pathways for those coming behind them.

Sponsor
This episode is brought to you by Game Time Budgeting, an award-winning financial wellness firm helping employees transform their relationship with money. By focusing on mindset, behaviors, and simple systems, Game Time Budgeting helps people save more, reduce debt, and feel more confident about their finances without judgment or confusion. Learn more at GameTimeBudgeting.com

Diversity Conversations, leadership podcast, inclusive leadership, higher education, academic freedom, DEI, diversity equity inclusion, equity in education, psychological safety, faith and leadership, authentic leadership, social justice, education policy, sociologist, Black leadership, community leadership, student activism, SNCC generation, identity and leadership, courageous conversations, University of Cincinnati, Littisha A Bates

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