Haskins looks out for students

When Wharton sophomore Kiyam Poulson needed to make up the statistics mid-term he missed because his great-grandfather died, his professor said no, no, no. There is no way students can make up missed statistics mid-terms, he said. So Kiyam did the logical thing. He called Harold Haskins, director of Academic Support Services, and within days Haskins spoke to his professor and made arrangements for him to take the exam. For many students, Haskins carries out an important role as a liaison with the administration, as an aide with academics and as someone who can help work out all sorts of problems. "He has so many resources available that students can go to him and he can give them a name and a number and solve whatever problems they have," Wharton junior Deanna Brandon said. Wharton junior Kevin Crump added that Haskins' ability to find jobs for people was known to many at the University. "A lot of people just give him their resume and he has enough people in the right places to get them a job," he said. Haskins, who headed the Tutoring Center from 1980 until 1989 and has been head of Academic Support Services since 1989, said that although he tailors his services to groups with special needs -- such as minorities -- he tries to reach all students. "We are first and foremost a support group for all undergraduates," he said. Haskins added that being black probably helps minority students relate to him and feel comfortable with him. "Being a minority permits me to take a look at the needs of minority students in a much more critical way," he said. "He can understand the problems that we as minorities face at this school," Poulson said. Brandon also praised Haskins for the way he deals with minority students. "He really looks out for minorities and is more sensitive to them than a lot of other people would be," she said. One of the problems Haskins is concerned with is the low retention rate for black males at the University. He said black males often "perceive themselves as being isolated early on and they can get lost in the environment in the first few semesters." Others try to assimilate too quickly and sometimes risk losing their African-American culture, a problem, he said, that needs to be addressed. "Nobody should give up their culture," he said. "In fact, you should study your culture and understand how it fits in with the greater culture." He went on to include racism as a problem affecting the University today, which he said was "inevitable." "At this institution, and at any institution, there is institutional racism that exists," he said. "It's a given." He added that it was merely a question of power and that if roles were reversed and this University were run by minorities there would still be institutional racism. Haskins said that the Tutoring Center's move from Locust Walk to High Rise East this year was "very beneficial" and added that it would help them "improve services." But Brandon had mixed feelings. "Being on Locust Walk helped diversify the walk, but I guess [moving to West Campus] brings [Haskins] closer to students and more have access to him," she said. Crump summed up the feelings of many students. "There is not enough time or space in a newspaper to talk about the kind of respect I have for Harold Haskins and what he has done for the black community," he said.

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