Disclosing HIV Status, Adler U. Chief Strikes Empathic Chord With Marginalized Groups

Raymond E. Crossman, president of Adler University, took a rare if not unprecedented step for a college leader over the weekend: He disclosed that he has been living with HIV for 30 years.

Writing for Salon, Mr. Crossman said that he could identify with the anxieties of people who feel marginalized by the current political discourse, such as Muslims and immigrants, because he felt the same way in the 1980s as a gay man with HIV.

Mr. Crossman, a psychologist, spoke with The Chronicle on Monday about his decision to disclose a private health matter.

The following interview has been edited and condensed.

Q. You think you acquired HIV in 1985, when you were 20 years old, but you have not publicly disclosed this until now. Why did you choose to do so at this moment?

A. My disclosure now is in professional circles. I’ve not been completely hidden about my status, of course, to friends and partners. But the reason I’ve decided to do this at this point is because I’ve felt a great responsibility right now on a couple of scores. This time is an extraordinary time. The drumbeat of hatred coming out of D.C. is impossible to ignore, and I thought I had something to offer right now. I believe the story of the ’80s offers great lessons right now, and I believe that my personal story might mean something to folks.

At Adler University we expect our faculty and prepare our students to be advocates for social change. I felt this was an enormous opportunity do something exactly in line with what our community does every day.

Q. What parallels do you see between the political environment for marginalized groups in the mid-’80s and those of today?

A. It’s tricky to make comparisons between marginalized groups. I can say confidently how I felt in the ’80s: I felt that many hated us, many wanted us to die. We knew that because we heard that all the time. I thought that dying early was part of being gay. That was really baked into my consciousness.

When I hear hate speech now, directed toward immigrants or Muslims or people of color who are trying to fight institutional racism, I find myself wondering if they feel like I felt in the ’80s. It just seemed to me there could be a clear parallel in how people were feeling.

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The reason I want to talk about this is because we had some clear successes in the ’80s. By the end of the ’80s, we were able to talk about public-health strategies, which ended up being adopted by the government — they took their cue from us. We were able to talk about the pandemic in a way that straight people were able to hear. So it was a very focused activism; very smart folks were leading us to make that happen. I think that’s the kind of activism that’s needed now: Focused, clear, strategic activism.

Q. I wonder what you think this generation of students does perhaps more effectively than you did back when you were a young activist, and maybe what they don’t do quite as effectively.

A. When I talk to students at Adler University, I find them more sophisticated than I was when I was in my 20s. In some ways, even if they’re not thinking about the ’80s, they have the experiences of the ’80s in their collective consciousness. But they are more ready to take a swing at things than I was in the ’80s. I didn’t know exactly what I was doing, as I mentioned in the Salon piece.

Q. Is there any constructive criticism you could offer to young activists?

A. It’s important that, when a protest or a demonstration happens, the outcome be considered ahead of time. What do you want to make happen with this? What do you want the message to be? What exactly do you want to interrupt? That is a challenge for any type of activism, because you’re trying to translate passion into action. You have to move past your passion to think about what you’re trying to create.

Protests that draw people together and inspire them are fantastic. The question becomes: What are you going to do with that inspiration? What are you going to do with that passion?

Q. You mentioned in your Salon piece that surviving “the plague,” as you put it, prepared you in some ways for being a university president. Can you expand on that?

A. Having the experience of growing up gay has made me very interested in the viewpoint that hasn’t been listened to, and the solution that is not the typical solution. The experience of having a challenge that I’ve been working through most of my life has taught me something about perseverance and resilience and problem solving, and created a type of empathy that I think is important in a leader. I’m always working at trying to be more empathic and vulnerable; I don’t always do a good job at it, but I’m a work in process. A big part of my process is handling the health status that I have handled for 30 years.

Q. This is a much more manageable disease than it was in the mid-’80s, but at the same time it’s something that does have to be managed. Are you comfortable talking about the extent to which it affects you, day to day? And a fine answer is “It’s none of your business.”

A. [Laughing.] My disclosure is a professional one. Personally the challenges are the same that anybody with any ability issue works with when they are managing a medical … actually, yeah, I don’t think I want to go there.

[After this interview, Mr. Crossman emailed The Chronicle as follows: “I’m able to manage my health only because I have the privilege of access to great medical care. That’s not the case for millions of people living with HIV across the country and around the world.”]

Q. Was your HIV status something you felt you needed to disclose to your board before you became president of Adler?

A. No. It’s not the right of a community to know those issues when they make a hiring decision. This is different. I am offering this now. But when I interviewed for my job, 13 years ago, it was quite a different time, and I’m a very different person than I was 13 years ago. I’ve grown up in many ways in this job, and this is a different time that I feel calls me in a different way than when I was hired.

Q. You were out as a gay man, though, when you accepted this position. Correct?

A. Absolutely.

Q. I’ve covered college presidents for a good long while, and I don’t recall another college president openly talking about an HIV diagnosis. Do you know of any?

A. It’s interesting. People have asked me that, because they could not recall either, and I do not believe that we have seen this type of disclosure in a professional way from a college president.

Q. You happen to be here in Washington at the American Council on Education’s annual conference, where you are among colleagues from across the nation. What has the reaction to your piece been like?

A. It’s been truly amazing. I feel a little bit fuzzy right now, because I was up very late last night answering hundreds of emails. I released the essay to my board ahead of time. I believed that students, faculty, and staff at the university had a right to hear this from me before they read it publicly, so I shared it ahead of time. The outpouring of support from students and staff and faculty has been amazing.

Folks are taking the time to write me and say that they believe my actions are consistent with what they expect of their president, and especially a president of Adler University. But they are also sharing with me their own stories, either about how they are being affected by this time or how they want to do their own kinds of advocacy. That’s more than I could have hoped for out of this disclosure. It’s been quite beautiful.

At this conference, the reaction has been very positive from presidents I know and many presidents I don’t know who are here.

Q. What are you hearing from them?

A. That they respected the action that I’ve taken and appreciate my advocacy.

Q. Do you see this as a moment in time for college leaders to get more comfortable with moral leadership — to take stands that might have political repercussions but are nonetheless necessary?

A. Every college president has to make their own decisions about what makes sense for them within their community. But I believe there is something every college president can be doing right now in order to make their communities more safe and more responsive.

Jack Stripling covers college leadership, particularly presidents and governing boards. Follow him on Twitter @jackstripling, or email him at jack.stripling@chronicle.com.