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USF Faculty Member Nathan Alexander

Published

11 years ago

July 22, 2015

Dr. Nathan Alexander joined University of San Francisco in the Teacher Education Department as a visiting faculty member in fall 2014 and will continue in the Teacher Education Department as Assistant Professor beginning fall 2015.

Dr. Alexander recently talked to the School of Education about what inspired him to become an educator, how he wants to change the world, his favorite teaching moment, and more.

His responses:

Where did you grow up? I grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina. I currently live in Oakland and it reminds me of my hometown – mainly the community norms – which made the move from New York, where I was prior to California, that much better.

What inspired you to become an educator?

In college I had the opportunity to work with the Upward Bound program. I also worked as a TA in the mathematics department. I was pretty young and the students warmed up to me rather quickly—this is where I think it all began. The way that we approached learning mathematics was what eventually inspired me to commit to becoming an educator.

One of my mentors came to see me teach a few classes and she said I was a natural—I took that as advice to become a teacher. One thing that has been extremely rewarding for me is my ability to connect my mathematics teaching to sociological issues; I double majored in mathematics and sociology.

My trajectory has come full circle in many ways…down to me teaching social justice courses and continuing my work with Upward Bound here at USF.

What is one of your favorite teaching moments?

When I was a teacher in Harlem, I had a class of energetic and opinionated middle school students.

They had pretty bad experiences in the past with mathematics, so I decided that we’d start class by talking about what they felt other teachers had done “wrong.” I had them write up their notes and we created a plan for the year—this plan ultimately resulted in them having more faith in me as a brand new teacher and I also had a list of things I knew I should avoid!

I had no idea what I was doing then, but this is something I begin all of my classes – by having students reflect on their learning experiences.

What is one thing you are currently working on that excites you?

I am working on a project that utilizes advanced mathematics—from courses like Calculus, Statistics, Econometrics and Stochastic Modeling—to frame historical and critical issues in social and political domains.

This project focuses on critical pedagogy in mathematics as a means to support students’ identity development pathways and their mathematics self-efficacy beliefs. The real power in the project is that it is interdisciplinary in nature. I

have started to build a host of mathematical models to examine, for example, the impact of social movements on public opinion. Other examples include using an econometrics measure known as the Index of Dissimilarity (ID) to examine neighborhood composition and social contexts surrounding urban gentrification.

My current long-term plans for the project are to build a curriculum model and lessons that can be used in advanced mathematics courses—which, in theory, will generate a pipeline to get more students interested in taking more advanced mathematics courses. You can think of the current phase of the project as an iteration of critical social and cultural studies in mathematics.

What is something that people may be surprised to learn about you?

Outside of loving mathematics—if that isn’t yet obvious—I have a deep passion for the arts, especially dance. Growing up, I studied at the Children’s Theater of Charlotte.

As I got older, I was trained in ballet, hip-hop, step and African dance. During college, I was the lead choreographer for the Opeyo Dance Company, which is an all-black, student-led dance company. While I was living in New York, I attended classes regularly at the Ailey School and Broadway Dance Company—one of my best instructors at BDC was Luam, who taught me a thing or two about pedagogy.

I was also the step master for my fraternity—Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Incorporated—and in addition to bi-weekly community service, we won a few step competitions.

Courtesy of USF news at www.usfca.edu/templates/usf_news_comm.aspx?id=6442509105

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Rest in Peace: A.M.E. Pastor and L.A Civil Rights Icon Cecil “Chip” Murray Passes

The Rev. Dr. Cecil L. “Chip” Murray, former pastor of First African Methodist Episcopal Church (FAME) in Los Angeles, died of natural causes April 6 at his Windsor Hills Home. He was 94. “Today, we lost a giant. Reverend Dr. Cecil Murray dedicated his life to service, community, and putting God first in all things. I had the absolute honor of working with him, worshiping with him, and seeking his counsel,” said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass of the dynamic religious leader whose ministry inspired and attracted millionaires as well as former gang bangers and people dealing with substance use disorder (SUD).

Published

4 days ago

February 3, 2026

Oakland Post

The Rev. Dr. Cecil L. “Chip” Murray, former pastor of First African Methodist Episcopal Church (FAME) in Los Angeles, died of natural causes April 6 at his Windsor Hills Home. He was 94.

“Today, we lost a giant. Reverend Dr. Cecil Murray dedicated his life to service, community, and putting God first in all things. I had the absolute honor of working with him, worshiping with him, and seeking his counsel,” said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass of the dynamic religious leader whose ministry inspired and attracted millionaires as well as former gang bangers and people dealing with substance use disorder (SUD).

Murray oversaw the growth of FAME’s congregation from 250 members to 18,000.

“My heart is with the First AME congregation and community today as we reflect on a legacy that changed this city forever,” Bass continued.

Murray served as Senior Minister at FAME, the oldest Black congregation in the city, for 27 years. During that time, various dignitaries visited and he built strong relationships with political and civic leaders in the city and across the state, as well as a number of Hollywood figures. Several national political leaders also visited with Murray and his congregation at FAME, including Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

Murray, a Florida native and U.S. Air Force vet, attended Florida A&M University, where he majored in history, worked on the school newspaper and pledged Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. He later attended Claremont School of Theology in Los Angeles County, where he earned his doctorate in Divinity.

Murray is survived by his son Drew. His wife Bernadine, who was a committed member of the A.M.E. church and the daughter of his childhood pastor, died in 2013.

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Court Throws Out Law That Allowed Californians to Build Duplexes, Triplexes and RDUs on Their Properties

Charter cities in California won a lawsuit last week against the state that declared Senate Bill (SB) 9, a pro-housing bill, unconstitutional. Passed in 2021, SB 9 is also known as the California Housing Opportunity and More Efficiency Act (HOME). That law permits up to four residential units — counting individual units of duplexes, triplexes and residential dwelling units (RDUs) – to be built on properties in neighborhoods that were previously zoned for only single-family homes.

Published

4 days ago

February 3, 2026

Oakland Post

Charter cities in California won a lawsuit last week against the state that declared Senate Bill (SB) 9, a pro-housing bill, unconstitutional.

Passed in 2021, SB 9 is also known as the California Housing Opportunity and More Efficiency Act (HOME). That law permits up to four residential units — counting individual units of duplexes, triplexes and residential dwelling units (RDUs) – to be built on properties in neighborhoods that were previously zoned for only single-family homes.

A Los Angeles Superior Court Judge ruled in favor of the cities, pointing out that SB 9 discredited charter cities that were granted jurisdiction to create new governance systems and enact policy reforms. The court ruling affects 121 charter cities that have local constitutions.

Attorney Pam Lee represented five Southern California cities in the lawsuit against the state and Attorney General Rob Bonta.

“This is a monumental victory for all charter cities in California,” Lee said.

However, general law cities are excluded from the court ruling as state housing laws still apply in residential areas.

Attorney General Bonta and his team are working to review the decision and consider all options that will protect SB 9 as a state law. Bonta said the law has helped provide affordable housing for residents in California.

“Our statewide housing shortage and affordability crisis requires collaboration, innovation, and a good faith effort by local governments to increase the housing supply,” Bonta said.

“SB9 is an important tool in this effort, and we’re going to make sure homeowners have the opportunity to utilize it,” he said.

Charter cities remain adamant that the state should refrain from making land-use decisions on their behalf. In the lawsuit, city representatives argued that SB 9 eliminates local authority to create single-family zoning districts and approve housing developments.

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Funds for Down Payments and Credit Repair Given to Black First Time Homebuyers

The California Civil Rights Department (CRD) won a $10,000 fair housing settlement last November against a property management company, CIM Group LP, a global real estate company headquartered in Los Angeles, and property owner, RACR Sora, LLC, for implementing a blanket ban on renting to tenants with criminal histories at Sora Apartments in Inglewood. Three months earlier, the department, which enforces California’s civil rights laws, won another $20,000 civil rights settlement against a Lemon Grove property manager, who had targeted a Black tenant with a series of racist actions and threats of violence.

Published

4 days ago

February 3, 2026

Oakland Post

By McKenzie Jackson, California Black Media

Three months earlier, the department, which enforces California’s civil rights laws, won another $20,000 civil rights settlement against a Lemon Grove property manager, who had targeted a Black tenant with a series of racist actions and threats of violence.

CRD Director Kevin Kish said the department investigates cases of apparent racial bias in housing and sometimes more subtle acts of prejudice like nuisance-free or crime-free housing policies or holding tenants to different standards based on their race.

Kish said, “People will get evicted if they call the police. This can negatively impact victims of domestic violence. We also see these no-crime ordinances, or no-crime policies, used in racially discriminatory ways. If there is some kind of incident, and the police are called and it involves a Black family, then they get evicted, but other folks aren’t necessarily evicted.”

On April 11,1968, a week after Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, President Lydon B. Johnson signed the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, color, religion, and nationality.

Kish noted that William Byron Rumford, the first Black California State Assemblymember, who represented Berkley and Oakland, spearheaded the passing of the Rumford Act in 1963. That law sought to end discriminatory housing practices in the Golden State, five years before the Fair Housing Act became law.
Real estate agent and housing advocate Ashley Garner is the director of the CLTRE Keeper Home Ownership program. That organization gave 25 Black, indigenous, and people of color $17,500 each in down payment and credit repair support to purchase a home in Oak Park, a traditionally Black neighborhood in Sacramento, last fall. CLTRE obtained a $500,000 grant from the city of Sacramento to award the funds to the residents after they completed an eight-week homeownership program.

In 2021, the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) noted that around four in 10 Black California families owned homes, which trails that of White, Asian-American and Latinos.
According to Forbes, the median price for a home in California is over $500,000, which is double the cost of a home in the rest of the country.

Black lawmakers recently introduced their Reparations Priority Bill Package that includes support for Black first-time homebuyers, homeowners’ mortgage assistance and property tax relief for neighborhoods restricted by historic redlining.

California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA) spokesperson Eric Johnson said CalHFA helps prospective low-income and moderate-income Californians purchase homes by offering down payment and closing cost aid. “There are lots of people who have steady jobs, good credit scores, constant income, but they haven’t been able to save up the money that traditional banks need or want to see for a down payment,” Johnson stated. “We help those folks out. We give a loan for the down payment to get them over that hurdle.”
CRD and the Department of Real Estate hosted “Fair Housing Protections for People with Criminal Histories” Zoom call on April 10.

On April 25, CRD will also hold Zoom seminars focused on advocating for fair housing for people with disabilities.