Alumni Publications

“Family is important to me,” says Susan Toliver, PhD. Speaking as a sociologist—and a mother—her statement is imbued with strata of significance. Toliver’s primary research interest is in the stresses, strengths, values and family dynamics of upper-middle-class and upper-class African-American families. Her last book, Black Families in Corporate America, found families in this demographic had certain key qualities contributing to their success, such as a strong work ethic, role flexibility, religious grounding, an overall commitment to family, as well as the support of an extended family network.

Since her doctoral dissertation, Toliver has researched African-American families making the transition from slavery to the present – especially those families which have become part of the upper-middle and upper classes. Her interest in researching—and teaching about—families has earned her notice as a Certified Family Life Educator, a noteworthy credential that few educators hold.

“My research is, in a sense, the continuation of the legacy of my grandparents,” explained Toliver. “Both were born in the 1880s in the South. My grandmother was a college professor; my grandfather was the first African-American dentist in South Carolina.”

Toliver starts a sabbatical this fall to research a book on African-American children of the upper-middle and upper classes. “In this work, the main focus will be on contemporary challenges. It will be a qualitative study, conducting interviews with parents on their hopes, goals, and inspirations in childrearing. I’ve made some good headway thus far,” she said.

“One of the things parents identify as a struggle in this demographic is a desire to develop their children’s racial identity and the challenges they face in doing this. Given the large degree to which neighborhoods, schools, and so on, remain segregated, it is important to give the children a good grounding in who they are, in race, in culture—and impart a cultural legacy.”

Imparting Legacy

Imparting this legacy is critically important, because popular media can obscure positive messages that families hope to instill. “There are many negative images of African-Americans and African-American families in the media, and limited opportunities for cultural expression in mainstream society. Parents feel it’s important for kids to know who they are in the global mosaic of human population.”

Toliver wears many hats – both personally and professionally. At Iona, where she has educated hundreds of students for over 20 years, she is currently chair of the Sociology Department, professor, and sometime coordinator of Women’s Studies. She has even served as associate dean of the School of Arts and Science. When not working at Iona, she’s a community activist, board member, patron of the arts, mentor, volunteer—and wife and mother. Yet despite her many roles, her compelling interest in justice seems to animate her.

Volunteering

She volunteered to help in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, going with a group connected to a Catholic church – and is going back again soon to help some more. “Katrina very much brought to a head many issues of class and race and immigration. In New Orleans, families were split up, possessions were lost, and lives were radically changed. I hear things are coming back, now, and I’d like to see that,” she said.

Dr. Toliver is also avidly interested in diversity, and she has published many articles and book chapters (some co-written) on her findings in subtopics of institutional transformation, curriculum diversity, and diversity not only of race, but also ethnicity, class, gender, ability, faith and/or age. She served as a consultant for the NJ Board of Education and has devised a template for assessing diversity in higher education.

Service

In her local community, she sits on the Advisory Council of the State of Connecticut Permanent Commission on the Status of Women, she is an AIDS activist and a mentor.

“Years ago, I developed a mentoring project,” she said, to help girls from families where one or both parents hadn’t graduated from high school. She and the group of mentors identified 12 adolescent girls in Norwalk, CT that would be designated “at risk” for not finishing high school, and mentored them.

“Eleven of the 12 made it through high school,” she said, and some continued on to college, as well. In one success story, one of the girls went on to law school and became a lawyer. “Her mother had never finished high school,” said Dr. Toliver, “but was so inspired by her daughter that she [the mother] got a GED, went to community college, and then moved out of low-income housing. The mentoring had a reaching-back effect in that case.”

“I appreciate that Iona is committed to service,” said Toliver, both for the good of the beneficiaries of the service work—and to the benefit of those who help. “There’s a reciprocal relationship between teaching, research and service.”

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