Shari Crittendon is a native New Yorker who is happy to be back in the city of her childhood, where she has family as well as a new job. On Aug. 19, she started as Fordham’s vice president and general counsel, the chief legal strategist guiding the University through the complex legal landscape of higher education.
She brings diverse experience to the role: She has been senior corporate counsel at the Constitutional Law Center for Muslims in America and general counsel at the United Negro College Fund, in addition to the higher education roles she has held, most recently at Kansas State University.
Growing up in Brooklyn and in Rochester, New York, she spent lots of time with her grandmother, who taught at the Tuskegee Institute, now Tuskegee University, and university life continues to inspire her. “Being part of the institutions whose focus is preparing students to make the country and the world better,” she said, “is the greatest job ever.”
What drew you to Fordham?
Fordham’s Jesuit model of educating for justice, as well as some of the issues in higher education right now—in particular, last year’s Supreme Court decision on affirmative action and how that may impact enrollment, diversity, and scholarships. Because Fordham is in New York City, where every group in the world is represented, I think we can be a model for other institutions on how to adhere to the Supreme Court decision but also achieve diversity.
What are some higher education issues on the horizon that have a legal aspect?
Artificial intelligence is one—for instance, ensuring that a student’s application is not totally written by AI or a student taking an exam has not gotten the answers from AI. How do you use AI’s power versus having it supplant original thought? I think the biggest risk is trying to ban the technology. I don’t think you can truly ban it because it’s really in the general stream of commerce. I think you have to find a way to harness it as best you can.
Expressive activity is another one. I firmly believe in the First Amendment; the students are very passionate about issues, so how do you have that dialogue with students to share their rights with them? There’s a way to express your views that’s not deleterious to the learning environment.
Can you give a few points of pride from your career?
One example is helping to establish the Gates Millennium Scholars Program when I was with the United Negro College Fund, which works with the Gates Foundation to co-administer the program. It was a $1.6 billion effort to help 20,000 low-income students from underrepresented groups get a college education. The other is when I lobbied on Capitol Hill, also during my time at the United Negro College Fund, to help secure about $2.6 billion in mandatory funding for historically Black and minority-serving institutions in the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, passed in 2010.
Building collaborative and strategic teams—at Kansas State and other places—is something else I’m really proud of: creating space for dialogue and debate, being team-oriented, making sure the counsel’s office is accessible so we’re probing and thinking along with everyone else versus coming in like firefighters after a problem arises.
What do you like most about working as a lawyer in higher education?
Having that exposure to a diversity of important issues. You can go from contract to employment law to constitutional law to athletics. So many major legal issues that are being discussed, even before the Supreme Court, come from higher ed—Title IX, expressive activity and the First Amendment, and research and research security. And being a strategic partner with the leadership of an institution like Fordham is an incredible and rewarding experience. Like I said, for me it’s the greatest job ever!
