Race Relations Report Issued, Cites Misperceptions, Doubts

The College committee on race relations yesterday released its report, which indicates that despite substantial interracial contact among Harvard undergraduates, students encounter prejudice in their relations with other students and about one of every five students doubts the academic abilities of minority students.

The report, the first in-depth examination of race relations in a college environment, also indicates that Black and white undergraduates at Harvard are decisively split on their attitudes toward the University's commitment to minority admissions, affirmative action and a diverse curriculum.

Issued after almost two-and-a-half years of work by a students-Faculty committee chaired by Archie C. Epps III, dean of students, the report recommends several changes, including:

* the inclusion in the Core Curriculum of courses on race relations and minority groups;

* a new administrative procedure to respond to students who feel they have been racially discriminated against, and;

* a reaffirmation by the University of its commitment to affirmative action and to hiring more minority proctors and tutors.

Based on evidence drawn primarily from a series of open meetings and a survey of one-quarter of the undergraduates, the report concludes that race problems at Harvard "are not caused by a single, deviant group of racist students," but by distorted perceptions on the part of many undergraduates.

Despite student perception of separatism among minority groups and white students, the committee found that "whatever racial problems exist at Harvard are not caused by the simple unwillingness of minority students to interact with whites or to participate in the mainstream of college life."

Among the report's other findings are:

* that there is little relationship between racial attitudes and behavior among Harvard students:

* that most students questioned grossly overestimate the proportion of minority students at the College;

* that when Harvard affects a student's racial views, it usually does so positively, and;

* that most white students see Harvard's affirmative action and curriculum programs as sufficiently diverse, while many minority students see Harvard as a university with a limited commitment to seeking minority Faculty members and to teaching non-Western European traditions.

The committee did not find repeated instances of overtly racist behavior but concluded that discrimination at Harvard is a subtle and complex problem. "Racism reflects a pattern of behavior or conduct," Epps said this week. "We did not find that here. We don't think the data support it. But because of the undercurrent of tension, the environment is loaded with misperceptions."

The report draws most of its conclusions from an exhaustive 251-question survey on racial attitudes and experiences which about 22 per cent of undergraduates answered. The sample of 1300 students, which corresponds closely to a statistical breakdown of students by race, sex and class, "constitutes an accurate sample of the total undergraduate population," the report states. "Statistically, it is very sound," Epps said.

However, Natasha Pearl '82, who coordinated a forum on racial problems at the recent intercollegiate conference held at Harvard, said yesterday she thinks the survey results are not necessarily representative of students at large. The results are skewed because respondents, particularly white students, had to take the initiative to answer the questionnaire, Pearl said.

The report stems from a February 1977 incident when The Harvard Lampoon published an issue containing material which the Harvard-Radcliffe Black Students Association called "racially offensive." In November of that year, Epps formed a 16-member committee of students, Faculty, and administrators to explore the patterns of interaction among white and non-white students, to judge Harvard's effects on students' racial perceptions and opinions, and to make recommendations aimed at improving race relations in the College.

Many committee members said this week they think the report's most disturbing conclusions concern admissions policies and the resulting group of minority students that attends Harvard. The survey indicates that while white students support "compensatory action" to attract a racially diverse student body, Blacks want programs that admit minority students in a number in proportion to their representation in the general population. Hispanics, Native Americans and Asian Americans fall somewhere in between.

Sixty-two per cent of Black students said they thought minorities have not received enough special consideration in admissions, while 86 per cent of white students responded that "minorities already receive enough or more than enough consideration in admissions." More tha half of white students and almost 70 per cent of Black students said they agreed with the statement that "admissions policies that are thought to favor minorities generally often create doubt about their academic ability at Harvard college."

While most committee members were not surprised by the divergence of views, some were "shocked," as Epps said, to discover that more than 20 per cent of whites, Hispanics and Native Americans and 15 per cent of Asians and Blacks have doubts about the academic abilities of minorities. A substantial number of respondents--50 per cent of Blacks, for example--say they or their friends have encountered "facutly/teaching fellows who question the ability of minority students to do outstanding work."

"These doubts," the report concludes, "represent a particularly serious problem in race relations at Harvard because they challenge the very right of minorities to be at Harvard and to be full members of the Harvard community." Epps said the doubts can be traced back to the late 1960s and early 1970s, when Harvard made efforts to increase minority representation here. Although the committee expresses support for "current admissions policies that include race as a 'tipping factor'" it notes that such policies can sometimes create the impression "that minorities at Harvard are less qualified."

Committee members are hesitant to identify areas other than admissions policies that might contribute to such perceptions. Adela Cepeda '80, one of the committee members, said the doubts may stem from what she called "socialization effects." It's not that minority students are not as intellectually competent, Cepeda said, but that they "are conditioned to think that they're not as good." Dean K. Whitla, director of the office of instructional research and evaluation and a committee member, said he hopes the report will help dispel such myths. "The fact that some minority students perceive themselves as less than the best is not encouraging and not true," he added.

Statistics from the report also indicate that there is much less separatism on campus than many committee members expected to find and than students perceive. The survey shows that "the extent of interracial interaction at Harvard is substantial indeed, particularly in classes, meals and groups of friends." Minorities responding to the questionnaire said they had as many close white friends as close minority friends. About 75 per cent of minority undergraduates and 40 per cent of white undergraduates said they had dated interracially, and a substantial number of minority and white students, 80 and 40 per cent respectively, had roomed at least one year with a member of another race.

Survey results show that most white students think Harvard changes their attitudes toward minority students in a positive way. But about one-third of Black, Hispanic and Native American respondents believe that Harvard influences their attitudes about whites negatively. Many minority students reported that contacts with white students carry social costs. About 50 per cent of Black students and 35 per cent of Hispanics and Native Americans reported that social affiliations with non-minorities reduce their acceptance among members of their racial or ethnic group.

In the three situations where undergraduates are most likely to encounter discrimination--contacts with services, Faculty and other students--they perceive more prejudice among students, the report shows. Almost 65 per cent of Black respondents, for example, reported racial prejudice in their dealings with other students. The study notes that because students see more of each other than anyone else, "many more situations arise in which prejudice on the part of the students can possibly be perceived." Cepeda said that in terms of sheer frequency of contact, the results "shouldn't be surprising." But Pearl said the committee's finding are severely limited. "The problems that Blacks have here are because of an insitutionally racist structure, certainly not solely because of their interactions with white students," she said.

The report finds one of the greatest differences of opinion between white and minority students in their perceptions of separatism among racial groups. Almost 60 per cent of whites questioned said they think minorities tend to isolate themselves, and much of the evidence the committee heard at its five open meetings in 1977 corroborates that perception.

The problem, according to minority student members of the committee, is that whites perceive separatism when minority students gather together in groups. As one white student told the committee at an open meeting in 1977, "Whites interpret Black tables and Blacks sitting together as a sign of their antagonism, but they never question the whites all sitting together." Eugene Matthews '80, one of the committee members, said this week the report shows that "perceptions are a large part of the problem." Students who share interests sit together, Matthews said.

Florence Houn '80, former president of the Asian American Association, supported Matthew's views. A member of a group advocating the establishment of a campus Third World Center, Houn said white students might perceive the center as threatening. But the real problem is ignorance, she added. "People don't understand Third World people, culture and heritage so they're afraid of Third World people getting together," Houn said.

Another large divergence in opinion appears in students' attitudes toward Harvard's commitment to diversity in admissions, curriculum and hiring policies. "White students, on the whole, appear reasonably satisfied with the existing state of affairs," the report found, but minority students "show a pronounced desire" to increase the number of minority Faculty and minority-related courses. Ninety-four per cent of Black students, for example, thought that "increased minority representation on the Faculty should be a highpriority goal for the University," but only 4 per cent thought it was such a goal. By less dramatic but equally significant measures, Black, Hispanic and Native American students thought Harvard should increase minority representation on the Faculty and "introduce more minority-related courses into the curriculum even though it may mean a reduction in courses in the Western European tradition." White and Asian American students were more evenly split in their answers to such questions.

In line with its findings, the committee recommended that the University reaffirm its commitment to affirmative action and that the Core Curriculum include courses specially dealing with race relations. "The lack of women and minorities on the Faculty reinforces student perceptions of prejudice," Cepeda said, adding, "There simply aren't enough role models for minorities at Harvard." Epps said only one course here deals with the Hispanic and Asian American experience, adding, "The University has responded to a lot of problems abroad, but there is this one area that is missing." Despite some student committee members' wishes that undergraduates be required to take such courses, the Committee, Epps said, "feels it should be a matter of choice." The report says such courses would be in keeping with the Core Curriculum's goal of helping students to "gain an understanding of the universe, of society and of ourselves."

Although the committee issued 13 different recommendations, Epps said its original task was to "describe the current state of race relations and to outline unresolved problems," not to prescribe solutions to those problems. While Epps said he plans to present the report's findings to the Faculty Council next fall, it is hard to say whether the recommendations--aside from an addition to the "Handbook for Students" explaining the new racial grievance procedure--will affect policies at the College. The committee urges "patience and sensitivity" in implementing its suggestions.

Many committee members say they hope the report will mark the beginning of a period of discussion and change. "Publication of the study is only the beginning," Peter A. Dale, Adams House senior tutor and a committee member, said, adding, "These data must serve as the basis for more work." But student members are concerned about the future of the report's recommendations. Cepeda said she regretted there was no recommendation calling for a standing committee to implement the study's suggestions. Committee member Tsan-Yang Liang '80 said this week he "seriously doubts" that the report will have a large effect on administration policy.

Committee members conclude that the greatest problems of race relations at the College stem from ignorance and misperceptions. At one of the committee's open meetings, more than two years ago, one white student said that "many of us simply don't even think about race relations at Harvard because it never touches our lives here." But the report indicates that the potential for change is there: more than 60 per cent of all respondents said they think they should "assume an active role in improving race relations.