ARCHIVES OF LEAD STORIES
May 26, 2005
UMass chancellor
decision sparks protests, compromise
Yawu Miller
A UMass Boston search committee’s decision
to select a well-connected white candidate for the chancellor’s
post currently held by a popular African American administrator
sparked a firestorm of controversy last week.
Members of the Massachusetts Legislative Black Caucus, city councilors
and numerous activists mobilized a campaign to pressure UMass
trustees to reject the search committee’s selection of former
Caritas Christi Health Care CEO Michael Collins over acting chancellor
Keith Motley.
Students and faculty voiced opposition to Jack Wilson’s
decision in the newsmedia while unions representing faculty, staff,
graduate employees and the campus police union jointly issued
a statement expressing “extreme disappointment” at
Wilson’s decision.Wilson is president of the UMass system.
Tensions mounted as a coalition of activists led by Nation of
Islam Minister Don Muhammad and NAACP Boston Branch President
Leonard Alkins led a raucous rally on the sidewalk in front of
the Franklin Street office of Jack Wilson.
“Every office has an eraser in it,” Muhammad said.
“Some even have White-Out, pardon the pun. A mistake has
been made.”
But as the demonstration wound down, word came via Muhammad’s
cell phone that Motley had agreed to take a position as vice president
of the UMass system.
“It’s not a payoff, but it is a different position,”
Muhammad announced to the crowd gathered on a rain-soaked Franklin
Street sidewalk Tuesday.
Motley could not be reached for comment by the Banner’s
press deadline.
While some saw signs of a victory in Motley’s new post,
which would double his salary and give him a hand in the guidance
of all five colleges and universities in the UMass system, others
bristled at the selection process which they said smacked of unfairness.
Activists had blasted Wilson and members of the UMass search committee,
noting that Motley had nearly 25 years experience in college administration.
“Diversity is talked about a lot in this city, but when
you see a process like this you have to ask questions,”
Alkins said before Motley’s Tuesday announcement.
After the announcement, faculty members said they were happy for
Motley but were concerned about the direction UMass Boston will
take under Collins.
“If the university wanted to follow an urban mission, they
would have kept Keith,” said professor Tony Van Der Meer.
Motley’s appointment as interim chancellor last year came
as the school was in the midst of turbulent times. Outgoing Chancellor
Joanne Gora had angered many on campus with what many saw as a
shift away from UMass Boston’s urban mission — to
provide education accessible to and relevant to the largely working
class student body.
Detractors on the faculty at UMass accused Gora of re-tooling
the university to attract a younger, whiter student body with
amenities such as dormitories. Her call for dormitories angered
residents of surrounding neighborhoods who cited a pact made with
the school in the 1970s forbidding UMass from building dorms.
Gora was also accused of cutting funding for the school’s
College of Public and Community Service and clashed frequently
with people of color in the faculty. In two years, 12 people of
color left the faculty and administration at UMass Boston. None
of them was replaced by people of color.
When Motley came on board in August of 2004, faculty members say
the atmosphere at the college improved markedly.
“Keith Motley was exactly what we needed at UMass,”
said Diane Dujon, who teaches at the College of Public and Community
Service. “We felt very supported and that he was exactly
what the college needed to forge ahead. We didn’t have to
explain our needs to Keith.”
With Motley’s departure, the college is now sorely lacking
diversity in its administration, according to professor Luis Aponte,
who counts interim CPCS head Connie Chan as the highest ranking
person of color at the university.
“There are few people of color in any responsible positions
at UMass,” he said. “Almost every position of power
is held by a white.”
A spokesperson for Wilson, Robert Connolly, said diversity is
a priority in the UMass system.
“Certainly Jack Wilson is concerned about diversity throughout
the UMass system,” he said. “You can discern our level
of concern when you look at his first two appointments,”
he added, citing Motley’s appointment to the interim chancellor
position and the appointment of Marcie Williams as senior vice
president of academic affairs.
But faculty members say that outside of Motley’s interim
appointment UMass Boston has seen no new people of color.
“Diversity is about more than words,” added professor
Carroy Ferguson. “It’s about actions and deeds. You
can talk all you want but when the top administrators don’t
reflect it, then you’ve got a problem.”
While Alkins and others at the rally Tuesday said they were not
alleging that Wilson and the search committee members were acting
out of racial bias, many said the selection was cronyism, pointing
to Collins’ lack of experience in school administration.
“Collins is still not a qualified candidate,” said
Marilyn Frankenstein, a senior faculty member. “He’s
been running private hospitals, not public universities. The other
candidates were more qualified.”
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