Black employees say racism still prevalent on campus

In recent years, the battle against racism has been fought time and time again on the University's campus. Whether it be diversity awareness programs for freshmen or racism seminars for faculty members, at least on the surface, the University appears to be taking strides to alleviate decades of discrimination. But according to a prominent association of black faculty, staff and administrators, race relations on campus may actually be regressing. Their list of problems is lengthy and detailed: · A search for a new vice president of Human Resources that is excluding blacks from both the recruitment and selection processes. · A dearth of black faculty members and a lack of commitment by the University to the recruitment of black faculty. · Black workers having difficulties acquiring skilled positions in Physical Plant. · Inequities in pay for blacks despite a report on minority salaries at the University completed a few years ago. · Discrimination against workers in the University Laboratory Animal Research. And these, they say, are only the tip of the iceberg. Other problems exist although they might not be as noticeable. Members from the group, the African-American Association for Faculty, Staff and Administrators, said this month that the University uniformly disregards concerns of black employees at all levels, ranging from tenured faculty to animal care supervisors. And now, the group is fed up with the latent discrimination at the University. "This is an announcement to the community at large about the quality of the relationship our community is having with the administration," said James Gray, a library assistant at the Annenberg School. "The issues and concerns are not given the timely attention that they are due." The tri-chairs of the group -- Gray; Thomas Henry, the animal care manager of University Laboratory Animal Resources; and Jerry Johnson, an associate Medicine professor -- all said despite the cosmetic efforts the University has made towards a racially harmonious campus, fundamental issues have not been dealt with. "The University has the opportunity to make progress and we should hold the University to this responsibility," Johnson said. Henry said he has personally dealt with 50 to 75 people with racial grievances against the University. He said it is time for the University to accept the fact that blacks exist on campus and they need to be taken seriously. "I think the University has to realize we do exist," said Henry, who is currently on leave to work with the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "Decisions are made which affect our lives every day which aren't discussed with us." "People just don't want to face the issue of racism," Gray added. · When Barbara Butterfield resigned from her position as vice president of Human Resources last semester, association members hoped they would be part of a search for a new vice president. But after several months, they feel ignored. "Although large numbers of African Americans on campus would be affected by the person, African Americans were not asked to be part of the process," Johnson said. Members of the association said they were not asked to review candidates, and only were allowed to be part of the process when they made a formal request. And even then, the group's role was only a "token" one, Henry said. Eventually, the association, as well as six or seven other groups on campus, reviewed candidates and submitted their opinions. But a weak candidate whom none of the groups endorsed was eventually chosen, Johnson said. The candidate turned down the nomination. Henry said the candidate many groups supported was a black woman from the University. The candidate chosen was a white woman from outside the University, he said. "An African-American woman candidate on campus was voted highly, but the University decided she was not qualified," Henry said. "The University said she did not have human resource skills." Senior Vice President Marna Whittingon confirmed that the position was originally offered to a female candidate who declined the offer, but insisted that the nominee was well suited for the position. "I don't think our campus community totally appreciates the level of skills required by the vice president of Human Resources," Whittington said. "You just cannot pick someone who is a first-class person but lacks a background in human resources." "The fact that so many people from the community supported the candidate should have had some bearing," DiLapi said. "Generally when you have strong support for a candidate special consideration should be given." DiLapi added that at times, it appears that the views of women and minorities are not taken seriously by administrators. "I think on a case by case basis, it is hard to tell if our opinions are taken into consideration," DiLapi said. "But in a number of situations, based on the outcome, it does not seem my opinion affected the decision." But Whittington said that all groups were taken into consideration and viewed seriously in the vice president search. She added that the association was allowed to review every candidate in the finalist pool. In addition, she said the search committee planned to include the association in the process from the beginning, and the association's request was not necessary. "We received written evaluations of the candidates from a diverse group across the University," Whittington said. "And we continue to do so." Gray said that although the search for a new vice president has been reopened, minority views are still not being considered. "There are qualified African Americans with the proper background at the University, but those people aren't even taken into consideration," Gray said. · Another problem the group pointed to is the lack of recruitment of black faculty. They also said that once black faculty are at the University, they have difficulty in getting transferred from one department to another, unlike their white colleagues. According to the report released last year on black faculty, graduate students and undergraduates at the University, "blacks and other minorities on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania are underrepresented when compared to both national averages and to comparable institutions." The report states that compared to universities like Yale, Duke, Stanford and University of California at Los Angeles, the University has a very low percentage of black faculty. In 1989, the University had less than half the total number of minority members at Yale University. The report also said "not only are blacks not hired for faculty positions, they are not considered in the interviewing process of most schools and departments." The report called for the University to take "immediate" action to increase the number of black faculty hired at the University. The committee recommended that by the year 2000, blacks should make up 12 percent of the total faculty at the University. By 1995, an additional 84 faculty should be hired, and in the following five years, 88 more should be hired. But since that report was issued, little has changed in the number of black faculty. In 1989, there were 49 black faculty at the University; in 1990, the University only increased the number of black faculty by one, according to Deputy Provost Richard Clelland. Clelland also said he does not think the report's goal will be reached although the number of standing black faculty had increased since 1985. "It would be very nice, but I don't expect it will happen," Clelland said. Association members said the recruitment and retention processes need to be changed, and asserted that blacks should have a say in the changes that are made. "Discussing who stays and who goes is taken out of the hands of the African-American community," Johnson said. Johnson also said the University needs to change how it evaluates the performance of black faculty in recruiting. Association members said black faculty aren't given credit for their achievements outside of research. Because there are fewer black faculty than white, they are in higher demand for committees and other projects -- leaving less time for research. "Penn just values scholarship based on research and tunes out a person's ability to teach," Johnson said. "The University is not giving credit for the service provided to the undergraduates inspired and motivated by the faculty."