Changing the System From Within

On a campus where political activity has tended to center around racial issues it is got surprising that minority hiring was the topic that galvanized a small group of faculty and administrators to change University policy.

After years of quiet experience a group of Black faculty and administrators suddenly became aggressive last year, focusing a harsh spotlight on Harvard's minority hiring record. And while the activists have taken care to stress the cooperative facets of their push for affirmative action, the stridency of their statement this year has betrayed a certain impatience with some of their official colleagues.

The group's newfound activism does from the release of Harvard's annual affirmative action report two years ago. The report, and an update last fall, showed that University employment of minorities and Blacks in particular was in their view--unacceptably low.

In a series of newsletters and high-level conversations, the Black group has sharply criticized the underutilization of Blacks at Harvard. They have particularly targeted the low number of Black women hired, especially in light of the departure of several prominent Black women officials and faculty over the last two years.

At the same time, the group initiated a series of meetings to move forward on the issue. In conversations with President Bok and other high-level University officials, the Black activists explored the idea of a new committee to monitor Harvard's efforts to hire Black faculty and staff. Their leg-work came to fruition this spring when Bok agreed to the creation of an ad hoc group to recommend new ways to better recruit, attract and hold on to Black faculty and administrators.

By and large, the group's tactics have stressed cooperation over confrontation, relying on conversations rather than angry protest marches. Members have publicly characterized their effort as friendly prodding, and Black Faculty and Administrators' Chairman Maryann Jarvis calls the group's activity "a labor of love."

Nevertheless, murmurs among some group members betray a harsher view of Harvard's Black hiring record. Some hint that it was the University "foot dragging" that purred them to action, and the principal success of the group that many members city private is the shift of discussion on affirmative action from the realm of governmentally imposed technicalities to that of pragmatic planning.

Meldon S. Hollis, an administrator in the affirmative action office, says the committee's success in organizing represented "the first time I have seen this kind of initiative with definite University support. There are individuals on campus that have worked very hard to make sure that discussions on affirmative action never rise above the technical issues." And Dr. John Henry, a former chair of the group, says of University efforts on minority hiring. "They may have been committed to it, but they needed constant reminders."

As a result of this skepticism, the group's actions sometimes took on an ironic tone. In the middle of last year, on March 23, the group presented President Bok with the first C. Clyde Fergusen Award, "for-extraordinary effort, and significant contribution toward enchanting the diversity of the students, faculty and staff of Harvard University." President Bok responded, "I accept the award in a very different spirit--as a recognition that we have made some serious effort in pursuit of equality and diversity, as a sign that you have not abandoned hope in what we can do, and most of all, as a gesture of trust in me and this University that we will not relax our efforts in affirmative action at a time when many others are relaxing their efforts around us."

For their part, University officials--like Bok--have publicly welcomed the group's activism, saying it simply echoes Harvard's already stated commitment to boosting its minority hiring. But official insistence that the suggestions of the Black Faculty and Administrators are nothing too new, has raised doubts among some of their group's members as to whether their message is getting through.

Vice President and General Counsel Daniel Steiner '54 speaks for what seems a general sentiment among personnel officers when I, says that the new committee represents "no real shift in policy." Other personnel officers agree Anne Oliver, a personnel officer in the School of Public Health, says that despite what seems to be a new mood on campus, "there's been no charge in climate. The committment has been here since I've been here.

Former Dean of the Faculty Henry Rosovsky praises the group, saying "the Black Faculty and Administrators are a good group it was a very good idea to create that committee." But Rosovsky goes on to say. "That does not take away from the fact that the problem is extremely difficult." The low level of minority hiring is a problem that will have to solved gradually, he adds.

And it is just this official caution and steadfast avowals that the University is already doing all it can to hire minorities that leaves Black faculty and administrators convinced they will have to be the driving force behind Harvard's minority and specifically Black hiring programs.

Hollis says the small number of Blacks in Harvard also stressed the organization's importance as a means of taking concerted political steps to insure that they will be represented in the University. "When you have such a ridiculous minority without access to the corridors of power and not involved with hiring and firing, you are constrained in your choice of tactics. If there were Black people in power, these issues would not have to be resolved in the public domain."

Like other members of the Black group, Hollis also stresses the organization's importance as a support group for campus Blacks. Education School professor and group co-chairman Charles Willie echoes Hollis' remarks, saving the University must be flexible enough to appreciate the existence of a vital Black community within the larger matrix.

Meanwhile, the members of the Black Faculty and Administrators struggle to reconcile their minority concerns with their positions as employees of the University. Thus far, this "inside" position has lent a more moderate tone to the group's demands. But if Black hiring does not rise in coming months, their demands may acquire a harsher note.