Although the diversity of its community is an issue that University officials frequently attempt to address, recent numbers show that Penn's faculty is not very ethnically broad.
According to statistics from the 2000 academic year, Latino faculty comprise only 1.8 percent of total faculty members, with the percentages of African-American and Asian faculty members at 2.9 percent and 7.3 percent of the total, respectively.
Out of 959 full professors on staff, only 12 are of Latino descent, making up 1.3 percent of the total number; 2.0 percent are African American, and 4.1 percent are Asian.
When broken down by rank, the numbers for both assistant and associate professors are slightly higher -- 2.2 percent are Latino, 3.6 percent are African American and 9.8 percent are of Asian descent.
"My opinion is that the numbers are terrible," said Sabrina Harvey, spokeswoman for the Latino Coalition and Wharton junior. "The University definitely needs to increase and intensify whatever recruitment process they currently have for minority professors."
However, the percentages of minority professors on staff have slowly risen in the past 10 years.
The total number of Latino professors on staff has increased by 5.3 percent in the past decade. The number of African-American professors has increased by 4.2 percent, and the number of Asian professors has increased by 6.5 percent over that same period.
In an attempt to continue to amend the low numbers, the University has formed a task force examining minority equity issues that will follow in the footsteps of the gender equity study, which began in the spring of 2000.
After the results of the first committee study, University President Judith Rodin indicated the need for a second study, with a focus on minority equity.
"Clearly we have been doing a lot of work in this area," Rodin said. "But if the gender equity is any indication, there will be more still that will be pointed out, and we will be very eager to learn that."
The gender study, which the minority study will be modeled after, not only examined University-wide numbers, but also looked at disparities across Penn's schools. Some schools had a higher number of female professors than others.
The University expects similar results from a minority equity study and has stressed the need for a careful examination of the numbers, both by school and by department, to find areas of need.
Annamaria Cobo, director of La Casa Latina, believes that once the University makes a strong commitment to recruitment they will be able to achieve their goals.
"Latino professors are looking for a place with a sense of community," Cobo said. "Penn is now equipped to give them that sense of community."
Recruiting minority faculty may be less of a challenge than it would have been five years ago. Minority resources have increased campus-wide over that time, and according to many students and faculty, a strong sense of community has grown where it did not exist before.
Many believe that a professor's role extends beyond the classroom, with faculty members serving as mentors and role models for college students. For minority students, this need is strengthened by a shortage of positive role models elsewhere in society.
As a black freshman in Wharton, Luzern McAllister is always searching for someone -- a mentor -- to latch on to.
"There is a certain amount of validity that I feel when I am able to see others like myself," McAllister said. "It gives me confidence to see those faculty making their mark on a great University such as Penn, on a great school such as Wharton and on the business world, something that I believe is not seen enough."
Faculty members that some students repeatedly named as living up to their roles as mentors and role models for the minority community include History Professor Mary Frances Berry, Legal Studies and Real Estate Professor Kenneth Shropshire and African American Studies Professor Herman Beavers.
"I am pleased to be supportive of all students," Shropshire said. "I certainly extend myself to minorities, particularly blacks, in ways that other faculty may not have the insight, experience or ability."
"That role is particularly important with the complete and long-term absence of any black person in a position of power in the office of the president or provost," he added. "That, in conjunction with the need for greater numbers of minority faculty, is a key issue holding Penn back from even higher levels of excellence."
College senior Dimitri Dube has sat down with Berry on numerous occasions and spoken with her about her life and achievements in civil rights -- an experience he describes as inspirational.
"Being able to sit in her office with her and look at the pictures of her with Nelson Mandela on her wall and speaking with her about some of the obstacles she has had to overcome, I can see a similarity in some of the obstacles I have had to overcome," Dube said. "That inspires me to seek to accomplish many of the things she has accomplished."
And though black College sophomore Chevon Walker has never experienced discrimination from a white professor, she advocates an increase in the number of minority faculty to combat the feelings of displacement that minority students often feel when entering a school as large as Penn.
"For anyone to see a person of one's own ethnicity in a position
of authority, such as that of a professor, heightens one's confidence," Walker said. "More black professors means more mentors that one can relate too, more professors to contribute to black student groups, and a greater sense of belonging."
Many students and faculty members also believe that increasing faculty diversity will inherently benefit the entire Penn campus.
"By having black faculty members, Penn will be able to develop new ways of teaching students," McAllister said. "The faculty will gain a more enriched perspective on how Penn is perceived socially and on how a discussion in class, whether social or academic, is perceived through different eyes."
