I 1 i I I ¡ I Annnnlc¡N NivnnsrrY AND rnn P RALIST IONNL 1 TFrn IJ l I I A Report of the Visiting Committee on Minority Life and Education at Brown University I I t I I i t i HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL ORTHOPAEOIC SURGERY AUGUSTUS A. WHITE lll, M.D'' Dr. Med' Sci. PROFESSOR OF *tO BROOKLINE AVENUE HARVARO MEOICAL SCHOOL BOSTON, MASS. 02215 ORTHOPAEOIC SURGEON.IN-CHIEF 617-73$3940 BETH ISRAEL HOSPITAL May 9, 1986 Dear President Swearer and Trustees of Brown University: I am pleased to.transnit to you the report of the Visiting Connittee on Minority Lif,e and Education at Brown University. As this report details, the menbers of the Visiting Conmittee net together four times to consider the curriculun, faculty composition, student support progra¡ns, residential life and the campus environment with special attention to the impLications for ninority students. We believe this report addresses the charges given to the Conmíttee by the University and by student organizations. 0n behalf of the menbers of the Visiting Co¡nmittee, I want to thank the students, faculty, adninistratoTs and trustees whO gave so generousLy of their time. It would not have been possible for us to have developed our understanding of the conplexities of these issues without the written naterials, thoughtful letters, and insightful comments from litorally hundreds of members of the Brown conmunity. Our special thanks go to representatives of the Third ltlorld student connunity for their active participation in the entire process, f:ron the developnent of the charge to the Visiting Com¡nittee to the formulation of specific reconnendations for action. We hope this report sparks constructive action for true cultural pluralisn at Brown University. Sincerely, ár,,*,-)'û)&"'t' Augustus A. White, III Members of the Visiting Gommittee George Ayers Leroy Richardson President Vice President for Development Chicago State University Tuskegee University Chicago, lllinois Tuskegee, Alabama Lerone Bennett Conrad Snowden Senior Editor Associate Provost Ebony Magazine Princeton University Chicago, lllinois Princeton, New Jersey Maria H. Cole Louís W. Sullivan Tyringham, Massachuseüs President and Dean Morehouse School of Medicine James Comer Atlanta, Georgia Psychiatrist Yale Child Study Center Ronald Takakl New Haven, Connecticut Professor, Department of Ethnic Studies University of California Eugene Cota-Robles Berkeley, Galifornia Provost, Crown College University of California Richard P. Unsworth Santa Cruz, California Headmaster Northf ield-Mount Hermon Schools Earl Graves Northf ield, M assachusetts Publisher Black Enterprise Magazine Augustus A. White, lll, New York, New Yort Orthopaedic Surgeon-in-Chief Beth lsraelHospital Carlos Hortas Boston, Massachusetts Professor and Dean of Humanities and Arts Hunter College, City University of New York .Chairperson New York, New York William McKinley Jackson Assistant United States Attorney Washington, District of Columbiá Beatha Clark King President Metropolitan State University St. Paul, Minnesota Kiyo Morimoto Harvard Graduate School of Education Cambridge, Massachusetts Theodore Parrish North Carolina Cenlral University Durham, North Carolina PREFACE 1tñiversily and the Plurallstic lrnperalive" represents a dissentlng opinion based on a ^ - and iaan "'"' l¡ll;d, "The American Universily the Pluralisl ldeal". Lerons Bennett Jr. was a tj,tflir¡J ¡isiting Commiltee on Minority Llfe and Educalion at Brown Universiry, a u,^f-',.àrron panel which was covened in October of 1985 lo evaluate current programs and eel^'^Z'Ål^"ndat¡ons for new strategies lor improving the climale of race relat¡õns at the tu.,]."TÅ]'Aepotl presented ol the Vis¡ting Committee was to lhe Fellows and Trustees of the 1986. Mr. Bennelt ls Senior Editor of Ebony Magazine 'I\'.^^,iÃriion in May and aulhor of y Mr. Bennell's slalement. ense of yrgency than does the Malority Report. e on behalf of such a sense of urgency in the rred it. ¿ Executive Summary President Howard Swearer and the Board of Fellows of Brown University established the Visiting Committee on Minority Life and Education in 1985 to evaluate current programs and to make recommendations for new strategies for improving the climate of racial relations at the University. This report is the result of that process. The pluralist ideal is the central theme of our report. We belíeve that ideal to be a characteristic of the American heritage and an ideal consistent with Brown's tradition of egalitarianism. Pluralism as a social condition is that state of affairs in which several distinct ethnjc, religious, and racialcommunities live side by side, willing to affirm each other's dignity, ready. to benefit from each olher's experience, and quick to acknowledge each oiheis contributions to the common welfare. Pluralism is different from the contemporary concept of "diversity" in which individuals from va resent, just ad it difÍers f rom the idea of "integration" in whjch minority plicitly ór implicitly, to abandon their cultural identity in order to merge ity. Jht Visiting Committee confronted the fact that racism is inherent in American society and therefore exists in the University community. lronically, any great university today reflects botn the ideal of racial justice and the experience of r¡ cism. This ls the case at Brown, in spite of the fact that its traditions and practices ar e ern for racial justice. The task for Brown is to gather i u situation. As a result of our analysis, the members of e nd will. Our goal is to help all students, but especially minority students, achieve academic success. at the highest levels possible. We challenge minority students to accept and meet this goal. Some of our suggestions focus on strategies to increase the "comfod level" of minority students at Brown. Other recommendations lobk at the composition of the faculty, the content of the curriculum, and the academic support services provided by the University. These directions for the University are designed to strengthen the educatioñal experience óf Brown students of all races and cultures, striv¡ng to meei the objective in Brown'ò charter to produce graduates "duly qualified for discharging the offices of life with usefulness and reputation." . We urge that Brown institutíonalize its commitment to the pluralist ideal, and to the improvement of race relations on campus. We recommend: ' that special support be given to faculty to rework existing courses and to creale new courses with Third World and ethnic-related materials. that the University communicate more effectively to students the elforts already made to broaden course off erings to consider the cultures and heritage of American minority and Third World peoples. that the faculty give formal consideration to a graduation requirement in American ethnic or Third World Studies. that the faculty give formal consideration to estabtishing an Ethnic Studies concentration and an Ethnic Studies Research lnstitute. that each academic department, program, and center have one member with special responsibilities for recruitment of minority faculty. that a faculty seminar series in the humanities and social sciences be established to expand understanding of scholarly inquiry into the ix I I I ri interactionsbetween.majorityandminorityculturesinth.eUnited ri States. rlì thattheDeanoftheCollegedesignateone,memb,erofherstafftominority students and i' monitor carefutty-those tnã academ-ic perfõrmance of ìlrr iä-äiiè"t ín academic trouble o appropriate resources' l l' thateachacademicdepartment,program.Sndcenterdesignateoneof its members as an acaðemic resources advisor' for the that the university appoint a dean with special responsibility concerns of Latino students' thattheUniversitysupportandencourageallstudentgroupsthatseek to promote racial understanding' Transition Program be continued, with more that the Third world broader administrative ¡nvälvement' We encõurage a significantly mandate for TWTP. ,,ombudsman" position be created in the office of the Dean of that an residential Student Life to äoìit" ñiñority students on all aspects of life. that the university council of students take new initiatives to improve inter-racial commí¡nication and inter-cultural exchange. that the UniversitY give new endorsement to the Racial Awareness Communications Exchange program and other groups working to improve race relations. ii . Third world center expand ¡tÎ role both to preserve the that the them with the ll cutturat ..ääit'oì-'minority groüps and to share UniversitY communitY. President estabtish a formal mechanism for regular attention that the minority students' ,ii to issues oi-race relations and issues alfecting . that the corporation evaluate the university's progress toward these :i goals at least trienniallY' lì ¡il iì activities. tli ll1 ent. cam ;.:iiT3li,h3å13'i."lf;Jll stud o increase dramatically thð leve the evolutíon of the cu'lture of th OY, message .. to all members of the Brown community is that 'alllndividualsprogress requires positive act¡on dem.onstrating openness, trust, and goodwill on thé part of of áll raciãl groups in all sectors of the University. The existence of the Visiting Committee illustrates the point. The President and the Board o e admired the open, candid, ry. There lrave Ëeeri serious i cí education at BrówÀ, none of of pluralism can finó working ounded in the traditions of white America. We are.encoura.qeq b), the fact that Brown, through its leaders, has been willing to entertain the challenge. we look forward now to seeing a great university