Home | Education & Distance Learning Articles | Article

The Shape Of 1998

Black Issues in Higher Education - December 24, 1998

"You've got to know the shape of the river perfectly. It is all there is left to steer by on a very dark night." So begins Derek Bok and Dr. William Bowen's new book, The Shape of the River, one of the first books to demonstrate the power of race-sensitive admissions practices. The former presidents of Harvard and Princeton universities evoke the image of Mississippi riverboat pilots winding through fogs, slow eddies, and hidden bluffs.

Perhaps that is what 1998 felt like to those who fought to provide access to Blacks in higher education only to watch in dismay as 30 years of progress was dismantled by successful legal -- and voter -- challenges to affirmative action. Those challenges began, of course, two years ago with California's Proposition 209, which slowed the number of Blacks and Latinos admitted to the elite University of California campuses to a trickle.

This year, the movement gathered momentum as the battleground shifted to Washington State. Although affirmative action supporters appeared more organized and were better financed than their peers in California had been, opponents again won a decisive victory when voters passed Initiative 200.

Brusied and battered, supporters of affirmative action were again surprised when the struggle that has long been waged on university and graduate school turf shifted to the virgin terrain of public school districts. Students and

parents in Boston and Virginia -- among other places -- filed lawsuits saying they were unfairly denied admission to well-respected schools. In Boston late last month, a three-judge panel struck down the affirmative action policy at Boston Latin School, the city's most prestigious high school.

By the end of the year it was clear to many that the landscape had changed and that new strategies are needed to continue to ensure minority students access to the nation's colleges and universities.

"Those of us who are proponents [of affirmative action] have to clarify the terms of the debate and try to make it clear that it is not a question of preferences or of righting wrongs that happened in the mid-1800s," says Margaret Montoya, a professor of law at the University of New Mexico's School of Law.

Many veteran leaders in the fight for access opted either for retirement or a career change this year. Dr. Donald Stewart announced he will step down from the helm of the College Board next year and Dr. Reginald Wilson left his prestigious senior scholar position at the American Council on Education.

Yet observers say some of the new players who are emerging may prove ideal for these pragmatic times -- people like Drs. Belle Wheelan, the first African American woman to head Northern Virginia Community College, and Lee Pelton, the first Black president of Willamette University in Oregon.

However, faculty appointments like that of Dr. Steven L. Mayo -- the first Black tenured professor at the California Institute of Technology whose scholarly career is so clearly distanced from matters of race -- beg the question of whether scholars who do align themselves with racial issues will become further marginalized from the academy's most coveted positions. Certainly, many argued that this year's Justice Department probe of Dr. Luther Williams was a not-so-subtle attempt to get rid of him. Williams has successfully used NSF programs to create more opportunities for African Americans. But Ward Connerly, the Black California businessman, who was once the beneficiary of affirmative action programs, has become the father of the movement to roll back those efforts.

As 1999 approaches, perhaps these new leaders will be like the Mississippi riverboat pilots Bok and Bowen wrote about so eloquently in their book. The pilots of the educational process who had to "know every depth, every deceptive shoal, and every hidden snag of the river" to continue the fight to ensure access to education for all.

The following is a recap of the higher education highlights of 1998:

Politics and Personalities

* President Clinton's national advisory board on race concluded its work in 1998 with little of the fanfare that accompanied the group's creation in 1997. The seven-member panel held meetings nationwide, but most experts believed the panel did not help build a stronger national consensus for affirmative action in higher education and other settings. The board could not be effective, many said, because President Clinton and the media were sidetracked by the Monica Lewinsky scandal, and members had to defend themselves against charges that they ignored opposing voices. (April 30, 1998)

* Congress passed a massive bill to extend the life of the Higher Education Act. The act includes provisions to lower student loan interest rates and increase the maximum allowable Pell Grant. The hill also included major changes in funding for institutions that primarily serve students of color. (May 28, 1998)

* Middle- and high-school students may get a leg up on a college education thanks to a new program that will provide information and mentoring services to low-income students. Congress included $120 million for the GEAR-UP program, which was introduced by Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.), who noted that although the federal government offers a wealth of college financial aid, many low-income students never know about it. (Nov. 26, 1998)

* Under a new remedial policy approved in May, students who fail one or more of the university's placement exams in reading, writing, and math will no longer be allowed to enroll at The City University of New York's senior colleges. Critics of the plan filed a lawsuit to keep CUNY officials from dropping remedial classes from the curriculum. (Sept. 3, 1998)

* Despite the efforts of opponents, Washington state voters passed the anti-affirmative action Initiative 200, which would prohibit the government from considering race, sex, color, or national origin in college admissions and state contracting decisions. Initiative 200 marked the second big victory for foes of affirmative action since California passed Proposition 209 in 1996. (Nov. 26, 1998)

* The U.S. Court of Appeals Court ruled that Boston Latin School, an elite Boston public high school, violated the rights of a White applicant by using admissions criteria that rejected her by while admitting some minority students with lower test scores and grades. Affirmative action supporters fear the ruling could undermine legal defenses that many universities make to use racial preferences to admit students. (Dec. 10, 1998)

* A group of attorneys, civil rights leaders, and law students demonstrated outside the U.S. Supreme Court to protest the lack of minority law clerks working for the justices who preside over the highest court in the land. Of the 34 Supreme Court law clerks hired for the coming term, there is only one minority--a Latino. (Oct. 15, 1998)

* Central State University, Ohio's only public historically Black university, has taken several giant steps on the road to renewal, including having its accreditation renewed and the lifting of a burdensome U.S. Department of Education penalty. Central State officials also regained financial control of the university from state budget officials who had stepped in a year earlier when the university fell into a financial crisis. (Sept. 3, 1998)

* Dr. Donald Stewart, the first African American president of the College Board, announced that he will resign from his post next fall and spend a year as a visiting scholar at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. (Oct. 15, 1988)

* Dr. Reginald Wilson, who has been known as higher education's voice for minority affairs, left the American Council on Education, for a one-year visiting professorship at the University of Texas-Austin. Wilson, who once headed ACE's Office of Minority Concerns and created its influential Annual Status Report on Minorities in Higher Education, also served as a leader in the effort to sensitize ACE and the broader higher education community to diversity issues. (March 5, 1998)

* Former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder accepted, then rejected, the presidency of Virginia Union University. His decision to step down followed a controversy that ensued when he requested the resignation of 11 of the school's top administrators. Wilder, the nation's first African American governor, had accepted the post in June and would have taken over in August. Meanwhile, a replacement has yet to be named. (Aug. 8, 1998)

* Dr. Luther S. Williams, assistant director for education and human resources at the National Science Foundation, settled a lawsuit against him charging that he had accepted honoria for speeches that were a part of his official duties. Williams, the key architect of NSF programs aimed at creating more opportunities for African Americans in the fields of science and technology, agreed to pay $24,000 and will remain in his job. (Aug. 6, 1998)

1 2 Next »

If you would like to discuss any of the issues raised in this article with hundreds of other Education & Distance Learning enthusiasts from around the world, please feel free to visit the discussion forums & post a message.

Discuss this article in the discussion forums now.

Popular Education & Distance Learning Discussions From The Past

Keiser College ECampus (2 posts)
by beardba - Last post on: 09-23-03 08:21
Hello Everyone! I am new to the forum. I am looking to pursue a Bachelors degree in Information Technology. I am researching some schools. Does anyone have any information or an opinion on Keiser? --- View this thread: http://www.online-college.info/article1290.html beardba---------------------... (Read More)

Geodon and blood sugar (1 posts)
by kr0 - Last post on: 09-15-04 07:54
I know that there can be side effect issues with a number of drugs. I was wondering if anyone has heard of the blood sugar related issues from Geodon? It is an antipsychotic used for treating schizophrenia. I was checking out some sites and found that http://www.bigclassaction.com/class_action/g... (Read More)

John Bear's credibility questioned!!! (14 posts)
by Shamane - Last post on: 08-21-03 17:21
I have read on another forum that John was sued by Berne University, and he hastily settled the case in favor of Berne University, as it was clear that John was intentionally publishing misleading information about Berne University. He agreed to and published the correct information on his web site... (Read More)

Degreeinfo needs your support (5 posts)
by degreeinfo@financier.com - Last post on: 10-26-03 03:09
Folks, your immediate attention is much appreciated. As you already know, more unfavorable news about John Bear continues to surface. Below is an article of THE ATLANTA newspaper on October 25, 2003. Please, order your Bear's Guide today thru orders@degreeinfo.com. Your donation will be u... (Read More)

You must register before posting in the Education & Distance Learning discussion forums. It's free & only takes a few seconds. Please also remember that no advertising is allowed...
Enter The Forums Here