PROCEEDINGS FROM THE 2004 UCEA CONVENTION
The 2004 UCEA Convention marked two historical landmarks: The 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision designed to end the systemic marginalization of children of color via school desegregation and reform-oriented public policies; and the 50th anniversary of the University Council for Educational Administration.
The 2004 convention theme, "The Changing Face(s) of Educational Leadership: UCEA at the Crossroads," captured the multiple "faces" of our profession– demographic, political, theoretical, philosophical, epistemological– and how UCEA has evolved over its half century of existence.
In the wake of these important anniversaries, it is important to consider what we as a field have accomplished in the last five decades, as well as the important work that remains to be done in the years to come. In the spirit of reflection and anticipation, this year's convention theme urged presenters and attendees to engage in serious discourse regarding the impact of the Brown decision, not only on the leadership profession, but on the field of education as a whole.
Since schools and institutions of higher learning are often primary battlegrounds in the struggle for social justice, it comes as no surprise that UCEA was born in the same political environment as Brown. Fifty years later, however, the political climate has changed, and the demographic and social backdrop has become increasingly diverse. This raises a number of questions for research, practice, and the preparation of school leaders which provided the contextual terrain for the wide range of papers presented at the convention.