Diversity. Affirmative action. Equal opportunity.
While these three terms are used interchangeably, they carry different meanings, said Philip Anderson, equal opportunity officer at Pace Suburban Bus System.
“I see equal opportunity as a goal, affirmative action as a tool to get to the goal and diversity as a climate,” said Anderson, who led a discussion on affirmative action Monday night at the Black House.
The dialogue was the kick-off event for Black History Month. About 15 students and staff members shared their definitions of affirmative action and their ideas for future diversity initiatives in corporations and universities.
Kofi Weusi-Puryear, who is studying for a Ph.d, said people in positions of privilege view affirmative action as reverse discrimination and do not recognize that the playing field is unequal for underrepresented minorities.
“They use the rhetoric of reverse discrimination to help destroy the affirmative action movement,” Weusi-Puryear said. “They use it as a tool of oppression.”
Another common misperception is that affirmative action allows underqualified people to join companies or universities simply because they are minorities. In reality, affirmative action policies help qualified minorities gain equal footing with majority candidates, said Terry Wynn, treasurer of the Black Graduate Student Association, which co-sponsored the event with African American Student Affairs and the Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity.
“We have people who believe the playing field is level, and other people who don’t think it’s level,” said Wynn, a first-year graduate student. “How do you show people equal opportunity isn’t available yet? People oppose affirmative action because they feel like you’re giving preferential treatment to minorities.”
One reason for this misperception is that affirmative action policies make minorities feel like token employees and not part of a supportive environment, Anderson said. Companies and universities need to make changes in their institutions to encourage respect for minorities.
“You can have a lot of black faculty members and not embrace diversity,” he said. “As long as you depend on individuals to keep the door open, you’re never going to embrace it. It’s all part of the system.”
A supportive environment is crucial because affirmative action policies do not ensure retention. For example, many minorities leave teaching positions for careers in business because they don’t feel respected in academic circles, said Carretta Cooke, director of African-American Student Affairs.
Minority students at Northwestern are not nurtured either, said Maisha Gray, a second-year graduate student. Gray said she felt more supported at her undergraduate school, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, because she found minority administrators to mentor her.
“Affirmative action may get you in the door, but you have to work hard to stay,” Gray said. “I don’t need to be coddled, but there definitely needs to be more support for the minority student (here).”
Cooke said change at NU will happen only if students fight to change the culture of their school.
“Most of the major changes in university structures have come from student activism,” she said. “It’s important for students to know their voices should never be silent.”
