Leading with care: Sustaining colleagues and students in times of crisis

Abstract As the global pandemic and acts of racial violence continue to impact employees and students across the United States, five members of a university arts-based research group called the Creativity Collaborative came together to support each other. The Creativity Collaborative’s guiding principles of Critical Media Literacy, construction of knowledge, Expressive Arts, and Trauma-Informed Pedagogy led them to find creative ways to sustain themselves and each other through communal visual journaling via Zoom discussions. Members of the Creativity Collaborative then noticed that their work within the group enhanced their work with students. From these insights, the Creativity Collaborative makes suggestions for how higher education leaders can care and support colleagues and students during times of crisis.