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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 28, 1987)
Minority Continued from Page 1 fessors were hired in 1984 and 1985 through personal contacts, according to the OAA report. The University should not re ly on personal contacts for hir ing purposes, contends Bernd Crasemann, a physics professor and chairman of a faculty search committee. “We don’t want to just call our pals or hire old students. That might later look like we circumvented the pro per approach.“ he said. The problem lies with the small pool of applicants and the competition between univer sities for those minority pro fessors. said University Provost Richard Hill. “The future pool of potential minority faculty is shrinking.“ he said. The University can contribute to that pool by encouraging its minority students to continue with their education, jackson said. “We need more Chicano students to go through our department and then identify the strong ones and encourage them to go on." he said. The University must begin that process by recruiting minority students. Coleman said. “What we've seen in the past six years is a reversal of many of the gains made in the past 20 years. As far as recruiting (minority) students. 1 think we’ve done a miserable job," he said. The University has difficulty attracting minority professors because it has little to offer them. Okahara said. “The University salaries are low com pared to other universities. Plus the minority community is very small,” he said. “If there’s no community, if there’s no other black faculty, if there’s no black culture and no pay, what’s in it (for them)?’’ Coleman asked. To combat these problems, the University might need to pay a minority professor more than his or her University col leagues in an effort to be com petitive with other institutions, Okahara said. While the University has a lack of minority professors, the administration must be given credit for their attempts to im prove the situation. Okahara said. “This isn’t Utopia, but in terms of commitment and Wi . T &S$ awareness in efforts to attract minorities, this campus is a whole lot better than other places,” he said. The problem is not unique to the University, said Robert Pro udfoot, a Sioux Indian and a professor in the education department. “It’s endemic in our society.” he said. Jan Oliver, director of the Minority Affairs Council, however, questions the Univer sity’s hiring practices. “We were raised in America; there are shortcomings to the think ing here. Racism is un consciously embedded,” she said. "Sometimes those people have had one bad experience, like getting mugged by a non white in New York while at a conference; that legitimizes their racism then," Oliver said. For minority students, a lack of non-white professors poses special problems, Oliver said. “The few black professors can’t be there for all the black students, it is too big of a burden to bear.” Support offered by a professor who shares a similar culture and interests is more valuable to the students, Cogdnll said. “When I had my mentor (a white professor) read a story I had written, he said, 'People don’t talk like that.' I said, rrom Athens Georgia Home of College Bands LWE tractor I EMU BEER GARDENS I WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28 $1 at the Door ID Required Alternative Food and Beverage Available Produced By The Cultural Forum and tha EMU Food Service ----——-—--T—Tirirttniiinmiinaiiim ‘Black people do.’ ” Uogdell said. It is common for white pro fessors to treat minority students differently than their white counterparts in the classroom, said Tammie |o Rhodes, a Black Student Union member who is majoring in Graphic by l«mlim Hath public policy planning and management. “The stereotype of the minority student doesn’t in clude ambition and drive,” she added. The white professors also assume the minority students will be experts in issues relating HALLEY'S COMET PEPSI «m. 12 oz..354 mod. 16 oz....4$< Ig. 24 oz.55« Comot 32 oz..654 Open 24 Hours kinko's Great copies Great people 860 E. 13th 344 7894 Second Hand Clothing NEED CASH? We BUY used clothing (New 2 yrs old) Call Mornings for Appt 344-7039 10-6 Mon.-Sat. 360 E. 11th bvlwvfn Mill Ki High to their race, Rhodes said. “Anything about blacks, the professor will turn to me for verification, thinking that is the limit of my knowledge. They don’t realize how racist that is." The handful of University minority professors are specialized in the fields of their ethnic background, which perpetuates their uniqueness. Rhodes said. She noted that Coleman teaches classes on black poetry and prose, and David Anthony teaches Afro-American history. “It gives credibility to the classes. But the professors are not mainstream — you don’t see a minority teaching Writing 121," she said. On the other hand, classes with specific emphasis on ethnic studies are sometimes taught by white professors. “It’s true, someone brought up in a particular African culture will know things you can't study and then teach," said Vernon Dorjahn, a white anthropology professor who has taught classes on Africa at the Univer sity for 30 years. But he maintains that so meone teaching about their own culture would in) too biased. KRRHfEl sponsored by CJ of O Club Sports (686-3733) Training workouts and instruction arc held Tues & Thur 7-9pm, B-50 Gerlinger and Sat \ 0-1 2am, Essl. 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