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Mixed progress on low-income and minority students

5/4/2012: Back in 2007 President Frohnmayer and Charles Martinez were putting UO through their expensive and pointless “5 Year Diversity Action Plan” mess. Meanwhile a group of 22 other universities started an evidence based program to improve college success among low-income and minority students. Their results have started to come in – mixed – but something to build on.

New UO VP for Diversity Yvette Alex-Assensoh starts this summer, I am hoping she moves UO away from unproductive rhetoric and the expensive and illegal UMRP program, and towards “fill the pipeline” programs targeted at low SES students such as those supported by the Education Trust.

9 Comments

  1. Anonymous 05/04/2012

    Maybe pointless from the view of the people who had to write them, but not from Frohnmayer’s perspective. Moseley had lost a racial discrimination lawsuit and the 5-year plans were needed to cover his ass.

    • Anonymous 05/04/2012

      Dog says

      if your referring to the Joe Wade lawsuit, I doubt most readers of
      this forum remembers or knows what that was. At one point I had a
      copy of the settlement agreement. In any event, the creation of OEID
      was a direct result of that settlement. This happened relatively long
      ago (7-8 years ago?)

  2. Anonymous 05/04/2012

    There are some really interesting things happening on campus here — and whether they have been spurred by this plan or not really does not matter. I’d suggest you look at the work the College of Education is doing to actively enroll a diverse set of students who will be our future teachers, plus the Building Business Leaders program in the Business School that is doing great outreach to underrepresented minority groups and then providing mentoring support.

    • UO Matters 05/04/2012

      Yes – I should write a post about the many good things that are happening wrst fill the pipeline stuff on campus. If people post blurbs and links here, I will consolidate.

  3. Anonymous 05/04/2012

    As someone involved in diversity activities at the unit level, I can say that none of them would have happened without doing the plans and being held accountable to them. There are some inefficiencies in the process, but the end result has been a greater, action oriented focus on important issues.

    • UO Matters 05/04/2012

      This is not true.

      The DAP’s as written and approved by Martinez were and are an insult to the many people who care about diversity very sincerely – just not in the way the diversity police want us too.

      We’ve done good work despite this paternalistic effort at window dressing, which was pushed onto UO by Frohnmayer and Moseley to cover up the discrimination lawsuit they – rightfully – lost to Joe Wade. If you want to give credit for what has been done since then, give part of it to Joe!

      Martinez and his plans were a negative from day one – as everyone including the 60 faculty, staff, and OA’s who signed the letter that finally got him canned knows!

    • UO Matters 05/04/2012

      Sorry, “not true” is a bit strong. I get a bit intense on this issue.

    • Anonymous 05/04/2012

      I was only speaking to activity in my area – which had not happened before the plans and I am confident in saying would not have happened without the plan until something negative happened to force the issue. I wasn’t speaking meaning to speak globally.

      I think some units, or at least one unit, needed paternalistic direction.

      I also give credit to all those doing good work without, or in spite of, the plans. It just wouldn’t have happened in my area.

  4. Anonymous 05/04/2012

    the famous/infamous diversity plan initiative sould properly have started with an honest assessment of what had or had not been accomplished where and why. it did not. thelargest college on campus was already ‘diverse’ in terms of faculty by national norms, except for women in science. It was recruiting thhe most diverse, financially needy and ethnically diverse entering undergrads well before’ the plan’ it is interesting to to hear that it apparently took an external plan ( and an injection of laege sums of money to getthe college of ed and some other units on the same track.

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