Promoting Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Education Administration
Our new Social Justice concentration in the Master's of Higher Ed Administration prepares students to advance equity and advocate for marginalized communities.
Dr. Dwayne Kwaysee Wright
Dr. Dwayne Kwaysee Wright
Assistant Professor, Higher Education Administration; Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives
School: Graduate School of Education and Human Development
Department: Educational Leadership, Cross-Disciplinary
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Dr. Dwayne Kwaysee Wright
Dr. Dwayne Kwaysee Wright is an Assistant Professor of Higher Education Administration and GSEHD Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives at the George Washington University (GW). His research and social activism seek to advance educational opportunity and equity for all students, particularly those historically oppressed and marginalized in American society.
Dr. Wright’s research is located within three broad theoretical frameworks: Critical Race Theory, Sociocultural Theory and Critical Pedagogy. His areas of empirical research interest include access, diversity, and equity policies for underserved populations in higher education; the use and influence of social science research in/on law; undergraduate and professional Multicultural Greek Life; and critical race theory & critical pedagogy in post-secondary education. His legal research interest focuses primarily on education law, First Amendment jurisprudence and American equal protection theory.
Dr. Wright joined GW’s Graduate School of Education and Human Development after serving as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Savannah Law School in Georgia where he taught Constitutional Law. He holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education from the Penn State University. His dissertation focused on the influence of diversity and inclusion on the culture of learning and living in law schools, particularly for marginalized/minoritized law students. The dissertation was awarded the Dr. Marcia Clarke-Yapi Memorial Award which is given for having the highest quality dissertation dealing with research in equity issues in education.
Furthermore, Dr. Wright is currently the National Coordinator for the Council on Legal Education Opportunity’s “Legally Inspired Cohort” (CLIC) program. The CLIC is a program focused on increasing minoritized student access to law school. The program is designed to test the hypothesis that minoritized law students are more likely to succeed if they are prepared and provided a welcoming and supportive community.
Dr. Wright is currently licensed to practice law in New York and New Jersey.
Ph.D. in Higher Education, Pennsylvania State University
J.D., Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law
Master's in Education, Pennsylvania State University
B.A. in Political Science, Norfolk State University
- Academic Freedom
- American University as a Non-Profit Corporation
- College Student Development
- Comparative Affirmative Action Policy
- Comparative Immigration Law
- Conflict of Laws
- Constitutional Law
- Critical Analysis of Higher Education Policy
- Experimental Educational Philosophy
- Critical Race Theory
- Education Law (K-12)
- Equal Protection & Substantive Due Process
- First Amendment- Free Speech
- Freedom of Speech for Corporations
- Higher Education as a Service Export
- Higher Education Legal Issues
- Law, Education and Sexuality
- Multicultural Greek Life in Higher Education
- Organization and Governance of the Public Research University
- Race Conscious College Admissions
- Sociocultural Theory and Student Affairs Practice
- Title IX and its application to Higher Education beyond Sports
- December 2024 - Dean Michael Feuer and Dr. Dwayne Wright had a book chapter published in Creating Justice in a Multiracial Democracy: New Will for Evidence-Based Policies That Work, which was recently published by Teachers College Press. Their chapter is titled, "Action to Reaffirm: Equity, Racial Justice, and the Future of College Admissions."
- September 2024 - Dr. Dwayne Wright participated in the National Association of College and University Attorneys online symposium, Free Speech and Academic Freedom on Campus: Recent Challenges and Opportunities (and accompanying fall special issue of the Journal of College and University Law).
- August 2024 - Dr. Dwayne Wright has been awarded GW University Seminar funding, in collaboration with colleagues from the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, for the academic year 2024-25 for a project entitled, "Intersectional Masculinities: At the Junction of Multiculturalism and Patriarchy."
- April 2024 - Dr. Dwayne Wright has been appointed to the university's Campus Safety Advisory Committee. The committee, chaired by the Vice President for Safety and Facilities, includes members representing the on-campus populations of students, faculty, and staff as well as university leadership and a neighborhood community member. Members serve an important role in identifying and highlighting positive safety practices as well as concerns and challenges on GW’s campuses.
- March 2024 - Dr. Dwayne Wright published an op-ed in The GW Hatchet titled, "Strengthening GW's community requires moral courage."
- November 2023 - Dr. Dwayne Wright presented a paper titled, "Blackness As Debt: Examining Institutional Practices Devaluing Black Professional School Faculty," along with Dr. Tyler Derreth from John Hopkins University at the "Virtual Day" of the Association for the Study of Higher Education 2023 conference.
- October 31, 2023 - Dr. Dwayne Wright presented at the 69th Education Law Association Conference in Reno, Nevada. He discussed the topic, "Judicial Arrogance, Epistemic Injustice, and the Overturning of Affirmative Action," as part of the annual Social Justice and Education Law Panel.
- July 12, 2023 - Dr. Dwayne Wright was quoted in the Capital B article, "How Black College Students in Atlanta Are Reacting to Affirmative Action Ruling." In addition, Dr. Wright was quoted in nerdwallet.com's article, "Affirmative Action Ruling Could Impact Minority Scholarships."
- June 29, 2023 - Dr. Dwayne Wright was interviewed for the TV segment, "Supreme Court outlaws consideration of race as a factor in college admissions."
- June 28, 2023 - Dr. Dwayne Wright was interviewed as part of GW's "3 Questions" video series about the Supreme Court rulings on affirmative action in college admissions.
- June 27, 2023 - Dr. Dwayne Wright participated in an Academic Engagement Network (AEN) initiative which brought university administrators from the U.S. to tour Israel and the West Bank in June to educate them about Jewish identity, antisemitism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The trip marked the end of a yearlong program, AEN's Signature Seminar Series, in which participants learned about these and other issues.
- April 24, 2023 - Dr. Dwayne Wright published an op-ed in The GW Hatchet titled, "GW should not embrace the disease of guns as the only cure for gun violence."
- March 2023 - Dr. Dwayne Wright presented a virtual session at the 2023 National Association of Student Personnel Administrators Annual Conference. The title of the presentation was, "How U.S. Higher Education Institutions Have Become the Colonizers of Free Speech." He presented with Dr. Branden D. Elmore, a Postdoctoral Associate in the Center for Diversity & Inclusion in Higher Education at the University of Maryland.
- June 2020 - Dr. Dwayne Kwaysee Wright was interviewed on the Moses's People Speak podcast for Episode 9 called "Discussing Race in America." The topic of the discussion was "What we should learn from the Amy Cooper video."
GW Professor Warns of Dire Impact of Laws Targeting LGBTQ Community
Dwayne Wright said a mental health crisis is unfolding in America as regressive laws targeting the LGBT community fuel hate and division.
Q & A: New Program in Higher Ed Administration Highlights Social Justice Concentration
GSEHD is offering a new master’s program in higher education administration with a concentration on social justice.
A Review of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Impact on Higher Education Law {Recording}
Dr. Wright highlights the impact of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg on higher education law through detailing five cases from her career.