Embracing the American Family

Early in my former career as a faculty member, I was teaching at a large public university and cultivated a reputation as a professor who actually knew his students’ names. I couldn’t help but notice, then, when a promising young African American woman who was doing very well in the course stopped attending or submitting assignments. Concerned, I e-mailed her to see if everything was alright and how I might help. The next day, she came into my office crying, saying I was the only professor to notice her absence. She then handed me the positive results of a pregnancy test.