Addressing Bullying in Higher Education with Dr. Al Solano

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Learn to protect the truth, not the tribe.

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Dr. Al breaks down how a loud few can distort narratives, stall reform, and make campuses feel toxic while most educators work hard for students. He shows how to replace blanket blame with specific accountability, evidence, and courage so truth can guide decisions.

• pattern of toxicity driven by a small few
• harm of blanket blame across groups
• distortion of messages and weaponized silence
• fear, bullying, and misuse of retaliation claims
• equity weakened by internal toxicity across identities
• shift from group blame to naming behavior
• document evidence and gather allies
• silence as complicity, courage as a norm
• truth as the foundation for student success

Accompanying article: Stop Blaming Everyone. Name the Few.

Transcript

Welcome to the Student Success Podcast. If you work in higher ed and want to learn ways to support students, check out today's episode.

Hey everyone. Today's episode is different. For years, this podcast has featured incredible guests, people doing powerful work across higher education. And over the years, many of you have told me, hey Al, you need to do some solo episodes. So here we are. This is my first solo episode. And I want to talk about something that almost every campus struggles with, but very few people say out loud or do something about.

After working with a multitude of institutions across the country for many years, I've seen a pattern repeat itself over and over again. Whenever a campus is struggling, toxic climate, stalled reform, faculty administrator attention, the same lines show up.

"Administrators are the worst." "Oh well, faculty are lazy." "The administration says no to everything." "Well, you know, the union is horrible."

So there's blanket blame, whole group blame. And here's the thing the vast majority of faculty, classified professionals, and administrators are brilliant, passionate, and deeply committed to students.

So if that's true, why does it feel so toxic at times?

Because of the few.

Sometimes it's not a dozen, sometimes it's not even five.

It's the few. And heck, you know what? Sometimes it's just one.

One person who twists words, one person who weaponizes grievance processes, one person who manipulates narratives, one person who uses silence strategically instead of leading honestly.

And here's the real issue. They're rarely named. They're rarely confronted. And they're rarely held accountable.

So let me give you an example. Let's say an administrator says in a committee meeting, "I think we should offer more evening classes for students. It seems a reasonable suggestion, right? Well, next thing you know, the message gets distorted:

"Well, you know, administration is trying to upend faculty schedules without consultation." That distortion spreads, it escalates, and it hardens into narrative. Now, people aren't responding to what one person said, they're responding to what was twisted.

The same thing happens on the administrative side too. Instead of distorting the message publicly, some administrators weaponize silence. They stall, they don't clarify, they allow misinformation to spread because confrontation feels risky.

So let me be clear. When leaders choose silence in the face of distortion, they are choosing an outcome.

And what gets lost in all this?

The truth.

I've said this in meetings many times. Faculty blood is not thicker than the truth, and administrator blood is not thicker than the truth.

Truth has no union, truth has no cabinet, truth stands alone.

Now, this is where things get uncomfortable. The truth is faculty outnumber administrators. So statistically, when toxic behavior shows up, it often shows up from faculty. And I can already hear it, "Al said faculty are the problem." No, that's not what I said. In any given year, 60 to 70% of the people I work with are faculty. They're my peeps. They care deeply, they sacrifice, they show up for students in extraordinary ways.

But one of the most demoralizing dynamics in higher ed is watching good people stay silent while the few distort, lie, and bully.

I've had faculty tell me quietly, hey Al, you know, I don't want to say anything because I don't want to be bullied. Think about that. Brilliant educators afraid to speak the truth because of social retaliation. This comes from tenured faculty, by the way.

Meanwhile, the toxic few shield themselves with language like, well, you know, "I better not be retaliated against." And you know what, let's be clear about something. We have our First Amendment rights, but we don't have a First Amendment right to lie.

Calling out lies is not retaliation, it's accountability. And the people being bullied, they have the right to speak up too.

Truth is not aggression. Truth is not retaliation. Truth is justice.

And here's another thing that needs to be said. Toxicity is not exclusive to one racial dynamic. Yes, systemic racism exists. Yes, inequity exists.

But on many campuses, the toxicity is internal: Black on Black, Brown on Brown, Black on Brown, and vice versa. Toxic people exist across race, ethnicity, union status, job classification.

Heck, one campus recently saw three toxic Latina faculty take out a kind student-centered Latina college president with their constant lies, made-up grievances and bullying. We cannot build equity on a foundation of lies.

And we cannot pretend cultural harm only moves in one direction. And calling that out does not make someone anti-equity. It makes them pro-truth.

So what do we do?

First, stop the blanket game.

When you say the union is horrible, you push good union reps into defensive mode.

When you say administration is terrible, you push good administrators into survival or defensive mode.

Group level blame strengthens group loyalty. People circle the wagons.

And guess what gets protected?

The few.

Second thing we can do.

Just start naming the individuals. If someone is distorting the truth, name it. If someone is weaponizing grievance processes, name it. If someone is manipulating through silence, name it.

But don't go empty handed. Gather your evidence. Document the behavior. Find your allies. Speak carefully, but speak clearly. You cannot fight shadows, you have to name them.

And there's a real cost of silence. Too many people tell good educators all the time, hey, "You know what? Just keep your head down." "Ah, just stay out of it." "You know what? Just focus on your work."

That sounds neutral, but it's not. It's complicity.

Silence doesn't make you strong, it makes the toxic behavior stronger.

And here's what I believe deeply. Institutions achieve student success when educators help each other succeed.

But that requires courage. It requires people willing to say, "Hey, that's not accurate." "Wait, wait a second, that's not true." "Whoa, whoa, hold on here. That's not how this happened."

And to do so without fear of social exile.

So to wrap things up, after years in the field, I've seen too many exceptional educators shrink themselves to accommodate the loud few.

If we are serious about student success, if we are serious about equity, if we are serious about institutional excellence, then we have to be serious about the truth.

Stop blaming everyone, start naming those few, and remember, silence isn't strength, it's complicity.

This is Al, founder of the Continuous Learning Institute and host of the Student Success Podcast. And as I always have in my email signature, a meaningful test of success is how helpful we are in contributing to our fellow human beings' happiness. Take care. Onward.

Thank you for listening to the Student Success Podcast. You can subscribe to the show and newsletter on the Continuous Learning Institute link below, and of course on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.