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Abstract
The U.S. academy wants 'multiculturalism' in the classroom. But its public rhetoric of fairness, standards, and diversity falls far short of its exclusionary actions in private, particularly for women of color faculty at tenure time. Tenure evaluations, we propose, reflect a narrative of institutional power that perpetuates the academy's religiouscolonial legacy. Priest-Novitiate relations rule the academy more than a community of peers. Accordingly, women of color faculty face not just a glass ceiling when it comes to tenure and promotions. Rather, they encounter a more subtle, complex, and insidious form of resistance. It consists of a specificconfiguration of racial (white), gender (male), class (aristocratic or upwardly-mobile), and cultural (Western medieval) criteria that women of color cannot possibly satisfy. We conclude with some suggestions for transforming these social relations in the academy.