Minutes, Diversity Committee, October 17, 2002
Conference Room I, Black Cultural Center, 1:10 pm
Members present: Keally, A. Smith, Manoff, Pemberton, Mack, T. Conner, Roller, Blocker, Stephens, Royse
Guest: Theotis Robinson, Vice President for Equity and Diversity, University of Tennessee
Mr. Robinson was our guest to give us information on the Geier Consent Decree, and to discuss the effect it might have on the Libraries, and any possible work that could be done by the Diversity Committee to publicize it to our staff.
[Secretary’s note: instead of repeating all the information we gained from Mr. Robinson, I have provided a link to information Jill Keally found with the history of the case and there is a link from there to the Consent Decree itself: http://www.tnstate.edu/cmcginnis/geierhistory.htm]
After explaining the history of the case and the consent decree, Mr. Robinson gave us some financial specifics on what this has meant so far for UT.
· The state will provide matching funds of 40% of what UT provides, up to a maximum of $450,000 for scholarships for African-American undergraduates.
· $180,000 a year is provided for visiting African-American scholars. This year there is one person in Knoxville and 2 people at UTC. One way we might help here is to suggest people for selection. For the Africa semester next year, money will be used to bring a visiting scholar to the UT School of Music. [see http://pr.utk.edu/africa for more information about Africa Semester.]
· Contingency funds of $1.5 are available for expenses not specifically covered elsewhere, such as money for hiring recruiters.
Mr. Robinson explained that this decree and this case define the need for more diversity very narrowly, (as in white/African-American) and he praised our committee for considering diversity very broadly. The need exists for expanding everyone’s vision. He said this area had a lot more Asian and Hispanic citizens than it has had in the past, and mentioned the need for access to facilities and services by persons with disabilities.
There is good news on this front. He told us that the Board of Trustees adopted a statement in December 2001 about performance evaluations of deans, dept. heads, etc.: they will include what the individual has done towards vigorous compliance with the consent decree. Performance assessments will soon include what the individual has done to promote diversity goals and objectives.
More good news is that the rates of African-American students at UTK and UTC have been going up. At UTC, 16% of their students are African-American. UTK numbers are going up, but still aren’t where we want to be—reflecting the percentage in the population of the state as a whole.
Mr. Robinson will send us a UT report on the Geier decree for the past year. We will ask about having it cataloged for the library.
Next, we talked about what role the diversity committee could play in all this.
Mr Robinson suggested that perhaps the library would consider being a repository for historical information about the case. Possible users of the information would be law, history or journalism students. We discussed various options such as partnering with other Southeastern states with similar cases. He suggested that we speak with Richard Bayer at the Admissions office, or Carlos Gonzalez, who is the court monitor for the case, and is also working on the Alabama case.
Next, we moved on to some of our other business.
We can all find information about Africa Semester at pr.utk.edu/africa.
The DivCrow scarecrow won 2nd prize at the Fall Festival! The diversity committee won a prize for 2 free pizzas, and of course, it was a wonderful opportunity to get some exposure for the committee at such a large event. The group decided to keep the scarecrow intact and use it at the Student Recognition Festival.
Plans for the festival are moving right along. The books are on their way to Mary Ellen Starmer to be bookplated. Refreshments are all set. Anthony has taken most of the photos of the students. LouAnn will send him the list of students to make sure they match. Anthony will take care of calling the photographer to take pictures at the event. Sheila and LouAnn will shop for decorations when it is closer to time.
Our Nov. 5th event with SIS—6:30-8:30 p.m. Tiff and Molly are the liaisons and will probably be our representatives.
With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 2:30.
Respectfully submitted,
LouAnn Blocker