Misguided action

'U' day of action picks the wrong opponent

The fierce rhetoric, violent protests and student strikes of the '60s signified hope for a changing world. Particularly in the South, the Civil Rights Movement gained nationwide attention as the staging of sit-ins, massive gatherings and marches were beamed via satellite across the country. The children of those that marched in the '60s may now have a chance to walk a day in their parents footsteps. A group of 40 students at the University have planned a day of events to support tomorrow's National Day of Action, as set forth by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, to defend affirmative action around the country. While affirmative action is clearly worth defending, protests that pit University students against administrators and faculty are counterproductive considering the University's continued support of affirmative action.

Most of the planned events, such as student testimonials, teach-ins and a march on the Diag, are appropriate and student participation is good. But plans for antagonistic events should have no place at the University. Sit-ins in the Fishbowl and event organizers' encouragement to skip classes have been advertised campuswide. These types of protests do not fit at a university where affirmative action admissions policies have been and will continue to be supported by the administration. The two lawsuits filed against the University should lead to student protest, outrage and activism. But protesters should not let emotion take the place of logic in their decision making. The University has not backed down in the face of these lawsuits and continues to support affirmative action policies. It needs student support - not protest - to continue this trend.

Other universities across the country will also participate in the National Day of Action. The University of California and the University of Texas have scheduled events to rally support for the use of affirmative action in academia. Student protests, strikes and class walk-outs are appropriate at universities like these where the use of race-based admissions is no longer allowed. Since the University of California system board of regents voted to end the use of affirmative action in admissions decisions, the school experienced a significant decline in minority representation on its campuses. The National Day of Action is well-suited to helping students' get their voices heard there. Through well-publicized events, students can make lawmakers and university administrators nationwide aware that they will not accept a return to the segregated universities of the past. Where affirmative action has been ended, defiant protests and marches are a good method to express student opinion.

But the University has not yet lost its ability to use affirmative action or more important, its will to maintain it. Furthermore, by asking students to defy faculty by skipping class, it is making an enemy of administrators who they should treat as friends. The National Day of Action should be a forum to educate and gather support for affirmative action - not a day for students to protest the University by skipping class or sitting-in in the Fishbowl. Students should encourage the University to continue its fight to maintain affirmative action through non-adversarial means such as student testimonials, teach-ins or marches on the Diag. The problems of the '60s have resurged in the world of academia, and students should do everything in their power to help support diversity at their schools. But the day of action events at the University stand in defiance of administrators who have long supported the events' cause.

02-23-98