A Commitment to SMH/WTF Diversity

A week ago the University of Maryland held a town hall to discuss its diversity plan, a sort of response to last year's unveiling of the strategic plan which had no mention of diversity. The Asian American Student Union leaders I know and others were not impressed.

This week, UMD fired Dr. Cordell Black, Assistant Provost of Equity and Diversity. Wow. WTF was the town hall for? Did they think it would soften the blow? Do they think this helps their credibility? As my students would say, SMH!* As Jay Leno says, politics is just like show business, except the people are ugly (double-entendre intended).

The reported reason for the firing is the current financial crisis. Riiight. When I was actively lobbying Congress for funding for health and human services, I learned that no matter how tight the budget, priority programs would always get funding. It's less a matter of how much is in the pot, and more a matter of what the funder thinks is a priority. Corporate welfare? Fund it. Food stamps? Nope. So the real reason for the firing is a lack of commitment to diversity. My job was to help the funder decide on her/his priorities, sometimes by being a squeaky wheel.

In tight budgets, those "special" programs that we fight for--ethnic studies, offices of diversity, offices of minority health--always seem to get targeted first. Some would argue that we should instead integrate ourselves more into the "mainstream" programs. That might work some places, and I think we should encourage it. But really all it does is just shift the battle to a smaller playground. It's still the same fight (and sometimes harder because it's hidden).

So tonight, the students are rallying and strategizing and squeaking.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/event.php?eid=168255853162&ref=ts
And it makes me happy to see 700+ multi-hued RSVPs. I don't know Dr. Black well, but I was on an immigration issues panel with him. I think he should stay.

*SMH = shaking my head