Describes W.E.B. DuBois' Talented Tenth concept in regard to race relations and role models for black youth, examining: controversies over affirmative action in higher education, opportunities for black officers in the U.S. armed forces, racial barriers to admission to military institutions, African Americans who became military officers, and…

Reviews the College Board's report, "Reaching the Top," which addresses educational underrepresentation of high-achieving minority students, discussing the debate over race-based affirmative action and concluding that the integrity of American education is best served by programs and teachers eager to assist promising or disadvantaged…

Describes the Oklahoma Department of Vocational-Technical Education's plan for the hiring and promotion of minorities. Initiatives include (1) setting recruitment goals for assistant state directors, (2) using minority community resources, (3) developing minority employees, (4) informing local vocational directors of affirmative action goals, and…

Examines what is being done to implement cultural diversity in libraries. Topics addressed include affirmative action; defining cultural diversity, including the significance of ethnicity, race, and race relations in the workplace; problems in implementing cultural diversity; and examples of successful implementation programs. (Contains three…

When Duke University (North Carolina) adopted a five-year plan in 1988 to double the proportion of black faculty, it lost almost as many as it gained. The new 10-year plan will focus on support and retention as well as hiring. The new plan has critics but more support than the last. (MSE)

Increasingly, Blacks are recognizing a need to debate civil rights and affirmative action, tolerate diversity of opinion, and acknowledge that there is no single right Black answer. Although Black scholars who oppose racial preference are still in the minority, their views are gaining currency. Some propose unusual solutions. (MSE)

Guidelines developed by the Association of American Medical Colleges limit racial preferences for admissions and scholarships to students from only four designated minority groups, depriving students from other ethnicities from affirmative action eligibility. Discusses the implications for student diversity of changes in this policy. (SLD)

Notes that in 1998, despite energetic efforts to devise a more flexible admissions process at the University of California's professional schools, the percentage of entering black or Hispanic students (with the notable exception of 1997) stood at its lowest levels in 29 years. Discusses the problem, examining the effects of the University's…

Scholars who have examined the Black presence in elite colleges and universities have reported that 41 percent of Black freshmen at 28 selective schools identified themselves as immigrants, children of immigrants or mixed race. While schools have not yet clarified their position on affirmative action with regard to native Black American students,…

This paper explores affirmative action as a social movement with two goals in mind: (a) to challenge dominant notions of higher education reform, while advancing a social movement perspective; and (b) to advance understanding of the role of collective action in supporting affirmative action in college admissions. The authors highlight ways in…

The importance of diversity and inclusion to higher education was the focus of intense legal and social scientific analysis in the decisions of the United States Supreme Court concerning affirmative action at the University of Michigan. The leadership of higher education and several other sectors of society offered overwhelming support, and a…

The U.S. Supreme Court provided evidence that its membership had shifted to be more critical of affirmative action as it heard oral arguments last week in two cases involving the race-based assignment of students to public schools. Although the court did not exhibit any desire to reconsider its stand on affirmative action in higher education, the…

This document describes the steps that San Diego Mesa College plans to take in order to bring about a balance in the racial and sex distribution of its faculty and staff that approximates the racial and sex composition of the populaiton of the City of San Diego. The philosophy and goals of the Mesa College Affirmative Action Policy are set forth,…

The economic state of black America has never been healthier, yet persistent racial gaps leave African American unemployment at levels more typical of recession for whites in the United States. By challenging the predominant use of race, this compilation refocuses attention on the effects of discrimination and on the lost term "institutional…

This chapter traces the evolution of the concept of diversity in higher education, noting the real but slow progress in achieving greater inclusion. It highlights Harvard University's experiences, demonstrating why the goal of diversity remains so important to the actual quality and breadth of education for all students and why Harvard's existing…