 |
News
from Harvard Medical, Dental, & Public Health Schools |
||
|
December 16, 1998 FORUM Talking More--and More Publicly--About Affirmative Action
Want to watch a roomful of us Harvard folk
walk on eggs, we who usually have an opinion on most everything
and are usually willing to share it with you? Easy. Just make the
topic of discussion race relations in America--the future of diversity
at Harvard, in particular. I had the opportunity to experience this phenomenon recently, at a "Recommitment to Diversity at Harvard" talk, the first in a series of events planned to celebrate thirty years of affirmative action at Harvard Medical School. On this occasion, Dr. Neil Rudenstine, president of Harvard University, and Dr. Joseph Martin, dean of the Medical School, and others spoke of how much Harvard has accomplished in the past thirty years as reflected by the increased number of women and minorities in the student body. They also acknowledged how much still needs to be done. But when time came for the advertised "discussion" after the talks, all we got were a few timid questions. I wondered, "Are people afraid of being misunderstood, of stepping on a land mine, of saying anything at all?" If such a forum wasn't a safe and appropriate time to initiate a community-wide dialogue on these issues, I wondered what ever would be.
Afterwards, someone said to me, "Were you expecting anything important to be discussed or decided here?" Yeah, I guess I did--silly me. Of course, I did not anticipate the formulation of specific policies, but I did expect a sketch of the major issues that needed to be considered. I went away wondering, "Where is this dialogue supposed to take place?" I also realized that I left the meeting knowing as little about Harvard's affirmative action policies as when I had arrived. Is it just a general attitude, an ideology? How is it implemented at the level of the admissions process? Does Harvard have a target figure for the number of minority students it recruits? If not, then how can we hope to achieve our future goals? If so, how are reverse discrimination and the self-limiting aspect of quotas avoided? In response to recent rulings against affirmative action in public colleges in California and Texas, Dr. Martin has declared that HMS is committed to its pro-affirmative action stance. Unfortunately, I left October's "Recommitment to Diversity" lecture with only a nebulous image of what form that commitment would take. Getting more minorities "in the pipeline" and keeping them there is presumably one of the purposes of affirmative action. Beyond the admissions process, many opportunities exist to keep minorities on the path to educational and professional achievement. As a graduate student, I have seen my peers volunteer their time as mentors to young minority students. Some are helping to redesign admissions and recruitment literature to reach and attract more minority applicants. Others are active in minority student organizations to create a stronger support network for minorities who choose to attend a school like Harvard. This is only part of the equation, however. Diversity cannot end at the level of the student body but must extend upward through the various levels of the staff and faculty. This is also important to the success of minority students who need mentors and role models they can identify with. Former Surgeon General Dr. Joycelyn Elders summed this up with her pithy saying, "You can't be what you can't see." Seeking Minority Mentors Even though I have been in the the Harvard medical/research community for five years now, few if any of my courses have been taught by African-American faculty, and I have had relatively few opportunities for discussion with African-American principal investigators in my field. That worries me. What's worse is that after the first few years, I noticed it less, and that worries me even more. It is a shame that in spite of the progress that has been made, we will still have to carry the burden of this discrepancy with us into the twenty-first century. Harvard's current effort to raise awareness about the need for diversity is a step in the right direction. However, that step is likely in vain if it is not accompanied by an incisive dialogue about specific goals, how they are to be achieved, and involvement at all levels of the community. A second event celebrating affirmative action at Harvard was to be held December 11, and was promisingly titled, "Lessons in Diversity: Actions for the Future." I wonder whether this meeting will have sparked any more discussion than the first; whether anyone perceives Harvard's openness to diversity issues as a unique window of opportunity; whether our community's response to these events is a weather vane for our long-term success or failure. It's impossible to predict the future, but one thing is clear: race persists as the single most sensitive and divisive issue in our country. It is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future unless we find ways of making significant advances. Repealing affirmative action policies, maintaining the status quo, and recalcitrance just won't do it. —Alex Carter Alex Carter is a fifth-year MD-PhD student in neuroscience.
|
