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Is
It Constitutional to Help One Race?
Randolph Bromery, former chancellor of the University of Massachusetts, has set up a fund for black students in geosciences at the university, according to the Associated Press. "The fund represents a larger philosophy of increasing the numbers of African-Americans in the scientific professions across the board,’’ said Bromery. He used to teach in the department and has been singled out by the National Academy of Sciences as one of the nation’s outstanding black scientists. NYNEX is contributing to the fund, which Bromery established with his wife, Cecile. Bromery will control how the money is used. It is expected to rise to at least $250,000 over five years. Although everyone will agree with Bromery’s desire to help the underprivileged, many will also wonder whether it is productive to help members of one race or whether this is divisive. Brad Wilson does not believe it is productive. By Brad Wilson,
January 5--On the face of it, this race-based scholarship looks to be unconstitutional. But that’s not the only remarkable thing about it. Randolph Bromery, the benefactor, is mentioned in the article as a former president of Springfield College. What is not mentioned are his efforts to turn Springfield College into a re-education camp and the circumstances of his departure from Springfield. Here is what I wrote on this matter in a past NAS newsletter. Take the administration of President Randolph Bromery at Springfield College in Massachusetts, worthy of dishonorable mention in the next edition of The Shadow University. [See the June issue of Massachusetts Week for a review of this book by Boston attorney Harvey Silverglate.] Mr. Bromery, a geophysicist by training and a former chancellor of the University of Massachusetts, decided to make "diversity" the main concern of university life. Committees were appointed to advance a diversity agenda. The Institutional Priorities Committee dutifully issued a report on the president’s behalf announcing that "the emphasis for Springfield College should be on individuals of various racial/ethnic categories, individuals with disabilities, and individuals from other countries. It is also important to note that the diversity of faculty is of critical importance under this priority and that the Committee also seeks a more diverse staff population." A few years after the campus had been thrown into turmoil by the administration’s politically correct action to change the name of the college’s sports teams from the Chiefs to the Pride, the Racial Diversity Committee brought in a Native American activist to stir things up again, resulting in the student takeover of an administration building. The committee also satisfied its social conscience by issuing imperious decrees like this one: "On Wednesday, October 30, at 10:15 a.m., every member of the Springfield College campus community will stop and listen, will listen and learn, and will learn and speak about racism here (especially here) and elsewhere. This opportunity to join together for social justice represents the essence of the philosophy and mission of our College." Mandatory faculty development programs, formerly devoted to nonpolitical pedagogical issues, were enlisted as weapons in the war for social transformation. For example, the spring 1997 Faculty Institute had racial diversity as its theme. There, members of the faculty were compelled to participate in sessions like the following: "I. Teaching Racism by Ommission [sic]. This session looks at how racism is taught by what we omit in the curriculum, through readings, assignments, references, and classsroom [sic] discussion. "II. Recognizing Racism in the Classroom. In this session methods of recognizing various overt and covert forms of racism are offered including how issues of race are embedded in everyday language. "III. What does racism have to do with what and how I teach? Regardless of the demographic make-up of a class or the particular content of a class, race is often a significant dynamic in the classroom. This session offers an opportunity to discuss the pervasiveness of race in the college context. "IV. Issues of race in teaching Science, Math and Computer Technology. How issues of race are revealed through factors such as teaching methods, student selection and retention and curriculum design." One faculty member who attended (he dared not skip it) sent a letter to his colleagues describing the experience and what it had meant for him: "I and other more senior colleagues were made to walk in a circle asking and answering pre-set questions and confessing to alleged ‘secret racist predispositions’ to perfect strangers. The entire exercise was infantile and humiliating." And then there was the mandatory workshop for those in teacher education, sponsored by the Massachusetts Department of Education, on "Integrating Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Youth Issues into Teacher Preparation Programs." The shadow university at Springfield College did not go unchallenged. A group of faculty joined with the director of campus ministry, Kenneth Childs, to produce a publication by and for Springfield faculty. With its motto, "Hey! It’s Just Our Opinion!," the journal published articles by Rev. Childs and others that often took issue with decisions of the college president and his administration. On July 22, 1998, a day of infamy at Springfield College, President Bromery fired Rev. Childs from the position he had held for twenty-six years, informing him in writing that his criticism of the president and his administration was "fostering dissention [sic] among College constituencies." When Rev. Childs returned with his wife to the campus ministry center on July 28 to pack up his belongings, he found that the lock on his office door had been changed, and was forced to withdraw materials witnessing to his lifetime of service to his college under the supervision of campus police. Later that evening, Reverend Childs, fifty-six years of age and, before July 22 at least, in perfect health, died of a massive heart attack. As Mr. Kors and Mr. Silverglate write in The Shadow University, "There are nations in the world where a college president indeed would risk his life by standing up for academic freedom. That is not the situation in the United States today. What is required is not so much courage as dedication to liberty and legal equality supported by just a bit of backbone. The fact that our academic leaders are not up to this task is alarming. The fear of disruption, of causing offense, of being associated with controversy, linked to careerism, has produced a hollow, unprincipled cowardice." In addition, one should not underestimate the arrogance that arbitrary power can breed, particularly when it is wielded in the name of social justice. Soon after Rev. Childs’ death, the Board of Trustees
of Springfield College released a memorandum to the college announcing
President Bromery’s abrupt retirement. Further corrupting the integrity
of the college they govern, the trustees (in an all too common public ritual)
praised Mr. Bromery for his "distinguished service to the College" and
for his "highly successful career," making no mention of the reasons for
his departure, no mention that a grievous wrong had been done by Mr. Bromery
to a colleague with twenty more years than he of "distinguished service
to the College."
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