Black Paper on Recruitment and Retention--1987

Black Paper on Recruitment and Retention of Black Students, Faculty and Staff

Abstract

The Forum on Black Affairs (at The Pennsylvania State University) has reviewed issues and documents regarding the minority recruitment and retention efforts of the University. The Forum has concluded that the fundamental reason for the University not reaching its targets lies in the administration's failure to use its control over available resources (human and budgetary) to take an unequivocal and repetitively enunciated position that focuses minority recruitment and retention as an appropriate task for this public university. This neglect, in many instances, has resulted from institutional racism and structural discrimination.

To eradicate this situation and its effects, the Forum asserts that the University administration must incorporate into the philosophy, the mission and objectives, an explicit statement of its commitment to equity for Black Americans.

In this Black Paper, the Forum cites several specific institutional programs, policies and procedures which deny equity to Black students, faculty and staff within the University environment.

Several recommendations are implicit in the Black Paper. Specifically, the Forum on Black Affairs calls upon President Jordan to create and fill a position of Vice President or Vice Provost for Minority Affairs. Chief among responsibilities assigned to this person would be oversight of and authority for implementation of the goals enunciated in the University's Title VI compliance agreement.