ACCESS IS NOT ENOUGH October 1989 CHAPTER 1 Campus Climate The recent Supreme Court decisions concerning affirmative action and the increased polarization of the races as evidenced by the increasing number of reported racial incidents suggest that, as a nation, we are becoming more conservative in our views and actions with respect to equality for all our citizens. Although no agency maintains official statistics on the number of racial incidents that have occurred on campuses in recent years, the National Institute Against Prejudice and Violence has used newspaper clippings to document incidents of racial tension at 175 colleges since 1986-87. Further evidence of this hostile environment was noted in a recent Newsweek article. According to the Newsweek Campus Poll on Racial Issues, 41 percent of the respondents say there is racial prejudice at their school. The poll, conducted by the Gallup Organization, included 516 face-to-face interviews with college students on 100 college campuses nationwide in 1986. Many Blacks believe these disturbing actions and trends at the national level ultimately affect local environments. Black employees and students are becoming more conscious and concerned as well as suspicious and verbal about the institutional environments that they experience on a daily basis. There is growing unrest and intolerance for covert and overt racism, injustices and oppression. The College Park campus represents the primary institutional environment for over 3,000 black students and approximately 1,000 black employees. Blacks and many others see the university as a microcosm of the larger society. As the nation goes, so goes the university, unless major changes or initiatives are implemented to counter the conservative racial trends. This campus, as noted in the introduction, has made progress in recruiting students and employees, and some successful initiatives have been implemented to provide a supportive environment for black students and employees. These efforts must be continued along with more attention and concern to the issue of racism if we are to become an outstanding institution that encourages and supports all of its students and employees in the pursuit of excellence. This chapter and much of the report will indirectly and directly allude to the issue of racism. Racism simply defined, is "Power and Prejudice = Racism." More formally racism is defined as any attitude, action or institutional structure which subordinates a person or group because of their color. Racism is not just a matter of attitudes: action and institutional structure can also be a form of racism. Sedlacek and Brooks in their text, Racism in American Education: A Model for Change, further explain racism by defining different aspects of it. They state that "Institutional racism is action taken by a social system or institution which results in negative outcomes for members of a certain group or groups. Individual racism is an action taken by one individual toward another, which results in negative outcomes, because the other person is identified with a certain group. These definitions of racism are behavioral, in that results not intentions are important. Most racism is unknowing or unintentional. Those who have power to influence others are the primary perpetuators." Findings for this chapter include highlights of campus programs and events, followed by comments made by our black faculty, staff and students concerning their perceptions of the campus climate. Findings 1. The College Park campus has a number of units and Programs designed to address the concerns of black students and some special efforts for black faculty and staff as well. Campus-wide programs are offered by the Office of Human Relations, the Office of Minority Student Education and the Office of Graduate Minority Affairs. Departmental and college initiatives are offered in several colleges in the university. A listing of activities is Provided in Appendix D. The problem often reported by black students, staff and faculty is that there is a lack of a campus-wide policy with authority and resources to coordinate these efforts and supply missing ones. 2. During the 1989 spring semester at the College Park campus a teaching assistant, in completing an academic monitoring form for a student in an academic support unit, referred to the student's classroom demeanor in less than glowing terms and noted she was "a typical black student". In a second incident an instructor was forced to resign for telling a black student in his class that she had two strikes against achieving success, "she was female and Black." 3. The number of complaints regarding racism filed with our Office of Human Relations Program has increased from 19 in 1986-87 to 40 in 1988-89. 4. The stigma of being seen as an affirmative action hire as an employee or admit as a student continues to be pervasive across the campus. (This is one of the more painful ironies of being a person of color, although it is the institution's practices of exclusion that necessitate the need for affirmative action remedies, it is the victims of those practices who continue to be penalized.) Many black employees and students perceive the need to "prove" that one merits his or her presence on campus. 5. The perception of black employees is that the overall environment is lacking. However, there is an appreciation for the fact that several initiatives at UMCP help to ameliorate the situation somewhat. One of these is the Black Faculty and Staff Association (citing the campus support for the BFSA conference). Another is the relationships they have been able to develop with other Blacks on campus. Although many units are limited to one black employee, because of our size, the total number of black employees is relatively large in comparison with our peers. These numbers allow for the networking among Black employees on this campus that is not as prevalent at other majority white institutions. 6. Open forums for black faculty, staff and students were held in the spring and summer. The following perceptions of the campus climate were shared during these sessions. a. An employee alleges that she is discriminated against in her office. She cites the following as examples: 1) other classified staff get together to decide issues that affect her responsibilities and performance evaluation; 2) the responsibilities of the position change (more labor oriented) when a Black is the incumbent; 3) suggestions by Blacks are overlooked until a white makes the same suggestion; 4) white colleagues emphasize mistakes by Blacks, but overlook their own errors; and 5) provisions outside the rules are made for whites, but not for Blacks. Many in the audience cited the same types of behavior reported by this employee as a way of life for Blacks at the College Park campus. It is important to note that in separate sessions this same behavior was perceived and shared by classified staff as well as academic administrators and associate staff. b. Many black employees believe their contributions, in general, are not recognized or valued. Since most black administrators and associate staff have equity-related responsibilities and these issues appear to have little value to campus, outstanding performance is infrequently acknowledged and rewarded. Blacks believe that these responsibilities are outside what the white community considers to be the mainstream of the campus and therefore are secondary. This secondary status tends to facilitate the thinking, by white colleagues and supervisors, that the skills, talents, and expertise that Blacks have are limited in scope. Lastly, many Blacks express concern with their role on campus. They believe that they are hired to ensure that the minority view is considered in decision making, but if they support minority or equity issues too frequently, they then lose credibility because they are considered not to be objective. c. Blacks, in general believe that institutional responses to racial incidents are not aggressive enough. It is believed that if these incidents of racism are ignored or not treated severely, racism will find a nurturing environment in which to flourish. d. Concern was expressed about the campus organizational structure for monitoring equity issues on campus. Some employees believe that within our current decentralized approach, the unit Equity Administrator can be rendered impotent depending upon the individual's relationship with his/her supervisor. Blacks question whether the Equity Administrator can objectively monitor the decisions of a President, Vice President or Dean who is their supervisor. This perceived conflict concerning the Equity Administrators' objectivity leaves the black employee with a complaint uncertain about where to turn for assistance. Further, staff are concerned that the Equity Administrators wear so many hats that they can not give adequate attention to equity issues. e. The College Park Campus like many other institutions is a "relationship driven campus." As noted earlier Blacks have strong relationships with other Blacks, but less so with white colleagues. This has a negative impact upon Blacks since the leadership positions (President, Vice Presidents and Deans) are all held by whites, and Blacks typically are left out of the mentioning/supporting relationships seen as necessary for advancement. f. The accomplishments of black faculty, staff and students are numerous. However, the problems of Blacks tend to be covered extensively by the media, while the achievements of Blacks receive little media attention. g. Many Blacks believe the administration sometimes gives in to outside pressure in ways that are discriminatory toward Blacks on campus. One example was the administration's decision to charge the Black Student Union exorbitant fees for security when it sponsored a controversial speaker. Another is the perception that former Men's Basketball Coach Bob Wade was forced to resign while others are given a second chance. The chilly climate for Blacks at UMCP, as evidenced by the comments and perceptions shared by black staff, students and faculty, requires that we give immediate attention to climate concerns. Although for years we have talked about the unfriendliness of the climate for black students, this chapter, for the first time, also addresses the climate for other Blacks as well. The recommendations lasted below are provided to address specific problem areas, but also suggest mechanisms to improve the environment for all our students and employees. Recommendations 1. Review the current campus organizational structure for monitoring equity issues on campus to determine if changes in the structure are required to support our enhancement effort for Blacks. There is some support for a more centralized approach for addressing these issues. While the recommendation is not proposing a specific approach, one alternative supported is the appointment of a high ranking official with primary "responsibility" for developing policy initiatives, allocating resources, coordinating all campus wide efforts to enhance the role of minorities, and representing the President in the review of the enhancement efforts adopted by each campus unit. This official would be a line position with resources, authority, and status to insure the effective enhancement of minorities at all levels and in an sections of the university. 2. Develop an active public relations program to highlight the accomplishments of Blacks at UMCP. The accomplishments of black students, staff and faculty are numerous. However, little attention has been given to systematically highlighting these achievements. A staff person in Institutional Advancement should be assigned this responsibility. 3. Require the reporting of all racial incidents to the Equity Administrator for the unit and the Office of Human Relations. Often, these incidents go unreported, therefore no accurate record of the number of such incidents are available. Secondly, often supervisors responding to these incidents could benefit from discussing such incidents with individuals with expertise in this area. Lastly, these contacts will allow the appropriate offices to monitor the responses to ensure that all employees and students are being treated fairly. 4. Establish in each College and major unit (Vice President's office) an Ethnic Diversity/Prejudice Reduction/Racial Sensitivity Series. These would include workshops and seminars to further educate the instructional staff and supervisors concerning issue of a chilly climate in the classroom and work environment. It is also expected that the Office of Human Relations will continue to Provide workshops concerning these issues. 5. Conduct an assessment of our campus culture to ensure that our campus ceremonies and traditions reflect our cultural diversity, and our pictures and art reflect a multicultural community. The visual presentation of our campus sends a very clear message as to who and what is important and valued, moreover, it establishes a tone for the environment. 6. Conduct a bi-annual survey with black faculty, staff and students to assess the campus climate. It is expected that initiatives recommended in this report will improve the campus climate for Blacks. An assessment will be important to note areas of improvement and to note areas requiring additional attention.