I was annoyed by this article, which ginned up a comparison based on very different surveys with different questions. The college presidents were asked about the quality of race relations on their specific campus and on campuses in general nationally. The vast majority rated their own campus good (65%) or excellent (20%). However, the vast majority rated the state of race relations on campuses nationwide as fair (65%) or poor (10%), with no one rating the national climate as excellent.
So, effectively, they were being asked, “Are you doing a good job? Is your institution better than average?” And – surprise! surprise! – they overwhelmingly answered “Yes!”
Meanwhile, students were not being asked to rate the quality of race relations on their campuses. They were asked “Have you witnessed discrimination at your college?” (without specifying what type of discrimination), and about 58% said they had. Other students were asked “Have you experienced discrimination in college?” and about 45.6% said they had. That 45.6% was asked what kind of discrimination they had experienced; about 45% said gender/sexual identity and 40.6% said race, mostly (80%+) in the form of comments. That’s certainly an issue, but in historical perspective it’s hardly inconsistent with saying that race relations on a specific campus are generally good (but not excellent).