Faculty approves diversity statement

The University's Senate Assembly, the faculty's governing body, continued its support yesterday for maintaining a diverse campus by passing the third in a series of diversity statements.

The vote was overwhelmingly in favor of the statement with 32 in favor, none against, and five abstaining from voting.

"This statement lays the basis for future action," said pharmacology Prof. Charles Smith, who was involved in developing the statement.

The statement is part of what is called a "piece-meal" process. The objective is to have a series of statements that represent the faculty's views.

The first resolution was passed by the Senate Assembly on May 20, 1996. It stated that the University "must be open to, and provide a supportive background for, all qualified persons without regard to characteristics such as age, color, creed, (and) cultural background."

The next resolution on diversity, passed shortly after a lawsuit was filed against the use of race in the admissions processes of the College of Literature, Sciences and the Arts, endorsed a statement given by University President Lee Bollinger stating that a diverse faculty and student body helps to create a better educational environment.

Both statements led to the current one that Smith said "supports diversity, but is not a set of recommendations of how the University should maintain it."

The request for the statement was made in October by the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs, the faculty's advising committee, but the statement, titled "The Value of Diversity," has been years in the making, Smith said.

The only opposition came from Senate Assembly members who felt the statement needed to be stronger in its support of diversity.

The actual statement makes no reference to affirmative action and says instead, "the rich diversity of contemporary is a resource that needs to be tapped."

One supporter of a stronger statement is Engineering and history Prof. Nicholas Steneck, who was one of the five people who abstained.

"I just don't favor the piece-meal process," Steneck said. "It needed to be said stronger and include obligations for the University, not just statements."

But most members supported the statement in hopes that another will follow. The next diversity statement is expected to include recommendations on how to maintain a diverse campus, which Steneck wanted it incorporated into an all-inclusive statement.

The Senate Assembly is unsure of how to publicize the statement, but it suggested publishing it in the University Record, the newspaper of the University's News and Information Services.

"Part of the importance of the statement is to force us to continue to draw attention to the issues," said physiology Prof. Louis D'Alecy, chair of Senate Assembly.

Supporters of the resolution said they hope to have a final recommendation in the near future.

"We hope to give a specific recommendation in the next academic year which ends May 1," Smith said.

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