Tatum is a professor of psychology and dean of Mount Holyoke College, as well as a psychologist in private practice. She is the author of Assimilation Blues: Black Families in a White Community, and numerous articles in journals including the Harvard Educational Review and the Women's Studies Quarterly.
Entering members of the class of 2004 at Hamilton read Why are all the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria during the summer as required reading. At the beginning of the academic year during orientation week they participated in faculty-led discussion groups about the book.
Tatum's appearance is jointly sponsored by the Kirkland Project of the Study of Gender, Society and Culture, and the office of the Dean of Students.