Race Relations Handbook Distributed to Promote Dialogue

The Office of the Dean of Students released last Monday the sixth annual Handbook on Race Relations, a resource for undergraduates interested in race issues.

Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III said the handbook, usually released in March, was distributed last week to first-year dorms and Houses because he said he hopes to involve House masters, resident tutors and students in a dialogue about race issues earlier in the school year.

"[The handbook] gives you a link...if you're going to write a paper, or a thesis, or if you have questions," Epps said in an interview yesterday.

The 62-page booklet contains a variety of articles, including excerpts from the Sept. 18 special convocation honoring South African President Nelson Mandela and a partial transcript from last fall's highly attended affirmative action debate.

Faculty members, administrators and visiting fellows who study race issues and who serve on the ethnic studies committee are listed in the handbook along with several campus ethnic and cultural student organizations.

Campus leaders said the booklet could help students identify new outlets for addressing concerns.

"I think it's a good resource for freshmen who don't know how to get this information," said Dionne A. Fraser '99, president of the Black Students Association.

"It shows them that they have an option," Fraser said. "If they have a question, there's more that they can do than talk to their roommates about it."

Samuel C. Cohen '00, vice president of the Undergraduate Council, said the publication helps to meet a need that students have.

"The dean of students' office is looking out for the interests of all the students," Cohen said.

"This is something that some students have...strong feelings about," he added.

House masters and tutors said they plan to use the handbook to point students in the right direction.

"Things like this are great because when someone asks me about [race issues], I can show them the book and point to the back and say, 'Here you go,' "said Margaret Bruzelius '74, the Eliot House senior tutor.

"I will certainly do my best to make sure people know it's there and make copies available," she added.

Candice L. Hoyes'99, who wrote the only undergraduate essay included in the booklet, said she hoped her essay would facilitate more frequent discussions about identity.

"I realized how difficult it was to sit in the grass freshman year and talk about race in half an hour," Hoyes said, referring to mandatory first-year discussions on diversity.

"If this helps, then I'm glad," she added.

In Hoyes' essay, originally published in Diversity & Distinction, she reflects on the complications race may bring to her dream of becoming a professional opera singer.