FW: Article from Chronicle on Affirmative Action

Melissa Ponder (mponder@edcc.edu)
Mon, 09 Feb 1998 10:34:31


Forwarded by Melissa Ponder <mponder@edcc.edu>

>> Monday, February 9, 1998
>>
>> 49 Higher-Education Groups Sponsor
>> Ads to Support Affirmative Action
>>
>> By JULIANNE BASINGER
>>
>> Forty-nine U.S. higher-education associations have banded together to
>> take out an advertisement reiterating their commitment to diversity on
>> the nation's college campuses, in the wake of recent attacks on
>> affirmative action.
>>
>> The advertisement appears on a full page of the February 13 issue of
>> The Chronicle and is scheduled to appear in today's editions of The
>> Washington Post. The ad aims to show why the colleges and universities
>> represented by the associations "believe so strongly that racial and
>> ethnic diversity should be one factor among the many considered in
>> admissions and hiring."
>>
>> The American Council on Education organized the coalition by first
>> contacting the directors of five other large education associations:
>> the American Association of Community Colleges, the American
>> Association of State Colleges and Universities, the Association of
>> American Universities, the National Association of Independent
>> Colleges and Universities, and the National Association of State
>> Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. The directors of the six groups
>> drafted a statement expressing support for diversity and then sent it
>> to the 43 other associations for signing, said the council's
>> president, Stanley O. Ikenberry.
>>
>> "Several of us were concerned about the need for the higher-education
>> community to do a better job in stating our position on diversity," he
>> said Friday. "Most of the debate was being defined by the opponents of
>> affirmative action. What was missing in the debate was the educational
>> importance of the value of affirmative action in higher education."
>>
>> The advertisement states that "many colleges and universities share a
>> common belief, born of experience, that diversity in their student
>> bodies, faculties, and staff is important for them to fulfill their
>> primary mission: providing a quality education." Racial and ethnic
>> diversity should be considered factors in admissions and hiring
>> decisions not only because it enriches education, but because it
>> "promotes personal growth and a healthy society," "strengthens
>> communities and the workplace," and "enhances America's economic
>> competitiveness," the advertisement says.
>>
>> Joyce Payne, the director of minority and human-resource programs at
>> the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant
>> Colleges, said Friday that the higher-education groups long had
>> advocated that viewpoint independently, but felt that banding together
>> would give their statement greater clout.
>>
>> "Our primary interest was to reaffirm the higher-education community's
>> support for diversity, given the kinds of challenges it has faced, in
>> California and elsewhere," she said. "There's no question we are
>> absolutely supportive of promoting affirmative action. We're also
>> quite realistic about the challenges being faced in defining it."
>>
>> California voters in 1996 approved an amendment to their state
>> Constitution that bans affirmative action in public colleges and
>> universities, as well as in other state agencies. Affirmative action
>> also has come under fire in other states in recent years, and a number
>> of colleges have found themselves in court over their
>> affirmative-action programs.
>>
>> The signers of the advertisement are:
>>
>> *AACSB -- The International Association for Management Education *ACT
>> (formerly American College Testing) *American Association for Higher
>> Education *American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education
>> *American Association of Colleges of Nursing *American Association of
>> Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers *American Association of
>> Community Colleges *American Association of Dental Schools *American
>> Association of State Colleges and Universities *American Association
>> of University Professors *American College Personnel Association
>> *American Council on Education *American Indian Higher Education
>> Consortium *American Medical Student Association *American Society for
>> Engineering Education *APPA: The Association of Higher Education
>> Facilities Officers *Association of Academic Health Centers
>> *Association of American Colleges and Universities *Association of
>> American Law Schools *Association of American Medical Colleges
>> *Association of American Universities *Association of Catholic
>> Colleges and Universities *Association of Community College Trustees
>> *Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges
>> *Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities *Coalition of Higher
>> Education Assistance Organizations *College and University Personnel
>> Association *Consortium on Financing Higher Education *Council for
>> Advancement and Support of Education *Council of Graduate Schools
>> *Council of Independent Colleges *Educational Testing Service
>> *Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities *Lutheran
>> Educational Conference of North America *NAFSA: Association of
>> International Educators *National Association for Equal Opportunity in
>> Higher Education *National Association of College and University
>> Business Officers *National Association of Graduate and Professional
>> Students *National Association of Independent Colleges and
>> Universities *National Association of State Universities and
>> Land-Grant Colleges *National Association of Student Financial Aid
>> Administrators *National Association of Student Personnel
>> Administrators *National Collegiate Athletic Association *National
>> Council of Educational Opportunity Associations *NAWE: Advancing Women
>> in Higher Education *The College Board *The College Fund/UNCF *The
>> Education Trust *University Continuing Education Association
>>
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