Posted on 03/17/2006 5:06:56 AM PST by napscoordinator
As the clock tower chimed at a quarter to noon, students and professors began filtering out of academic buildings and around the flagpole in front of the University Center at Lehigh University, postponing lunch or missing class to talk about a lack of diversity on their campus. Some older adults said it brought them back to their days of fighting for racial and gender equality as undergraduates. The students led the walkout Thursday that brought together hundreds of people sharing their stories of discrimination and calling for the administration to make significant changes on the Bethlehem campus. ''What do we want?'' junior Alexandra Milspaw yelled through a bullhorn. The racially diverse crowd shouted back: ''Diversity!'' ''When do we want it?'' ''Now!'' Calvin John Smiley, who is black and a sophomore, said Lehigh should recruit more from areas that are diverse, including from its own back yard, south Bethlehem. ''This cannot be the only day,'' he said in urging that efforts to promote diversity continue. Art and architecture professor Berrisford Boothe, who is black, told the crowd, ''There seems to a ceiling on the number of minority faculty and students at Lehigh. Whether by default or design, we keep coming up with the same number, no matter what we do.'' A student group known as The Movement orchestrated the protest. The group was founded in the fall by two students who worked in the Women's Center. ''It just sort of grew organically,'' said junior Nayla Raad, who is Lebanese. ''We started having these meetings, and more and more people kept showing up.'' Their next event is a March 28 rally and march to deliver a petition to President Gregory C. Farrington and trustees. Milspaw, who is white, read from a list of demands:
(Excerpt) Read more at mcall.com ...
more courses about racial and ethnic studies, funding for cultural programming, and research of diversity programs that have worked at other schools.
While the percentage of minority members in Lehigh's faculty has improved in recent years, the number of minority students in the freshman class has gone down. More minorities are being accepted, but fewer are choosing to go to Lehigh.
There were 73 black, Hispanic and Asian students in the freshman class in 2001. In 2005, that number dropped to 53.
''We are going backwards,'' said senior Kaloma Cardwell, who is black. ''It's 2006, and diversity is still a problem at one of the most prestigious universities in the country.''
Dozens of students of color talked about the racism they experienced or perceived at Lehigh, from slurs hurled at them to white students who got up and moved to another table in the cafeteria. Women spoke of being catcalled, or ''booty-slapped'' at fraternity parties. A professor told a story about a female athlete who tearfully confided she was a lesbian — and so were half of her housemates — but they were all afraid to admit it.
Organizers estimated 400 students, professors and staff participated in the walkout, although a rough head count indicated there were 500 or 600. Lehigh has 4,656 undergraduate students, 2,069 graduate students, and more than 432 full-time professors. That doesn't include staff.
Some students said their professors did not allow them to leave class. Juniors Jeff Such and Olivier Lewis, who are both white, said the professor in their international relations class told them not to go, but they went anyway.
Lehigh Valley LocalLinks Freshmen Robbie Aaron and Justin Feldman, also both white, were on their way to lunch moments before the walkout. Feldman said he saw the fliers around campus. Aaron hadn't heard about the event.
''I'm sure the intentions were good,'' Feldman said. ''I just don't know if it's something that can be resolved by people walking out of class.''
Senior Robert Daye, who is black, was one of the first students to grab the bullhorn and share his story. He told the crowd about a fight he had with a white student last semester. He was driving a friend home from a party when he stopped to offer the student a ride. The student asked Daye what he was doing at ''his school.''
Daye, a member of the only black fraternity on campus, Kappa Alpha Psi, also recounted a time he was surrounded by six security guards at a Greek fraternity. The security guards asked him to leave a fraternity party minutes after he arrived because ''the brothers didn't want me there.''
Deborah Ou-Yang, a sophomore of Chinese descent, said she has lived in Bethlehem all her life but never felt discrimination until her first week at Lehigh when another student yelled, ''Ching-Chang-Chong!'' at her.
Seth Moglen, an associate professor of English who is white, said Lehigh needs to do more to retain minority faculty members.
Efforts to recruit more women and racial minorities on the faculty have been successful, said Provost Mohamed El-Aasser. In the last five years, 44 percent of the 86 assistant professors hired were women, he said. The percentage of minorities on the faculty grew from 12.7 to 16.6 during that time.
''We've doubled our recruiting efforts, for students and staff,'' El-Aasser said. ''We have work to do. I'm very proud of our students for taking this step and raising the issue.''
Freelance writer Patrick Thornton contributed to this story.
Interesting article. Any thoughts?
I thought this was interesting...any thoughts?
Whatever happened to "E Pluribus Unum".
Maybe they could set up an exchange program with Howard University and create diversity in two places simultaneously.
Which ones are willing to leave to make room for other, more "diverse" students?
To the Minority
Tra-la-la boom-de-ay!....
Your numbers are going backwards because you're coming to college unprepared and can't handle the work, moron. You can't read, can't write, can't spell and you stand there saucer-eyed trying to do a simple math problem without a calculator. Turn off the rap music and start LEARNING!
On 95% of college campuses, the word "diversity" means a faculty, administration, and student body that is anti-American and anti-capitalist. Those who support the U.S. Constitution, American foreign policy, the war against terrorists, and the President of the United States "need not apply".
Parents should vote with their wallets and stop paying for junior or sis to attend these "schools". They spend $100,000 for an undergraduate degree which is worthless in the job market.
Happy St. Patrick's Day.
Diversity starts at home, bro'.
Yah, it's interesting. What I'd like to know, though, is what, precisely, these jokers think will be accomplished via "diversity" of skin color/ethnic background (like one of your readers pointed out- they want diveristy of skin color but not of ideas)--
If you scratch the surface, it seems to me that the unspoken assumption of "diversity" is really that people from different ethnic groups think differently- and we're not supposed to point that out, are we? Isn't "diversity" another way of saying that, for example, black people think differently than whites? Ouch! Otherwise, what's the point of "diversity"???!
Academics smokin' their own petard- again? Ironic.
Lehigh had a failed experiment with diversity in the late '80's--the man was a monster. Read about it here:
April 30, 1987
Ex-Lehigh Student Sentenced To Electric Chair for Murder
AP
LEAD: A jury on Tuesday night sentenced a former Lehigh University student to death in the electric chair for raping and strangling a freshman a year ago.
A jury on Tuesday night sentenced a former Lehigh University student to death in the electric chair for raping and strangling a freshman a year ago.
The former student, Josoph Henry, 21 years old, of Newark, N.J., showed no emotion as the jury pronounced the sentence after deliberating for two and a half hours.
Under state law, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court will automatically review the sentence.
The jurors had convicted Mr. Henry on Saturday of raping and murdering the freshman, Jeanne Ann Clery, 19, while burglarizing her dormitory room April 5, 1986.
The defense attorney, Michael Farrell, had asked the jury for a second-degree murder conviction, arguing that Mr. Henry was drunk at the time of the slaying and had not intended to kill the young woman.
District Attorney Donald B. Corriere asked for the death penalty, citing aggravating circumstances. Mr. Corriere said Mr. Henry had beaten, bitten and raped the victim before killing her.
The jury also had convicted Mr. Henry of robbery, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent and aggravated assault, burglary and theft.
LeHigh has a pretty good school of engineering. It used to be all-male.
I can never understand why the admissions process can't simply be about bringing in the brightest and most deserving. I understand, for academic reasons, why a "diverse" mix of students is something to strvie for (why have everyone from one state, or of one religion or race, etc.) But too often, "diversity" seems to mean lowering admissions standards and allowing less qualified students places in a class at the expense of other more qualified kids.
What are you implying?
He'll be dealt with later.
These kids choose the school. If they wanted diversity why didn't they choose a school that already had it ? More ethnic studies and cultural studies ? Maybe they should choose a school that already offers it. Why choose a school in a predominantly white, blue collar area ?
Just another example of faculty and kids who think their every whim should be granted, because this sure won't help with their job prospects.
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