When Pancho Savery came to teach at Reed College in 1994,
he knew he would be one of just two African-American faculty
members. He didn't know that five years later, he'd still
have that distinction.
The English professor has long advocated for greater
diversity among the faculty and student body. Now, as
Reed prepares to launch a major academic expansion,
Savery and other faculty members are pushing for more
minority professors and more courses of interest to
minority students. While they haven't received any promises
from the administration, Savery and members of the Reed
committee charged with hiring new professors are feeling
hopeful: "For the last four years I've been trying to
begin change," he says. "This is the first time I've
really seen it."
On a campus where the principles of "Communism, Atheism,
Free Love" still serve as the unofficial student-body
creed, one might expect diversity to manifest itself
in all kinds of ways. But of the 342 freshmen enrolled
at Reed last year, only five were African-American.
Minorities make up 11 percent of the total student body,
compared with 16 percent at nearby Lewis & Clark
College.
It's not as if Reed doesn't try to increase these numbers.
Last fall, for example, the college paid for the flights
of seven prospective minority students. Even so, admissions
officer Lynn Makou says, "We tell prospective students
that this isn't a place for everyone. Reed is a very
specific area of study."
Reed's traditionally classical curriculum may be its
strength, but, Savery says, it also poses challenges.
First, he says, "There is a lingering racist belief
at Reed that minority professors cannot teach in traditional
academic areas." Although Savery believes graduate schools
turn out qualified minority applicants who specialize
in traditional subject areas, Reed has resisted hiring
them.
Of Reed's 108 faculty members, eight are minorities.
"As it is now, why would African-American students
want to come here?" Savery asks. "What do they see when
they get here? White. The students are white, the professors
are white, even the people who mow the lawns are white."
In addition, he says, the course offerings may turn
off many minority students. "They look at the curriculum,
and they see that it doesn't place any emphasis on multicultural
studies," Savery says. "Of course they won't want to
come here."
Reed does offer a few course in African-American literature,
Native American literature, Latin American studies and
Chinese studies. But compare this with Swarthmore College,
near Philadelphia, which draws its student body from
the same national pool of high achievers as Reed does.
Swarthmore offers entire academic programs in these
areas and has a minority enrollment of 30 percent.
Reed Dean of Students Peter Steinberger says the focus
on classics has been what made the college unique. "At
Reed, unlike other schools, we don't strive to offer
a wide menu of classes," he says. "What students take
from us are analytical and critical skills, not a comprehensive
knowledge of subjects."
But for many students, those skills aren't enough.
Rob deRoock, a Latino student, came to Reed in 1997
unsure of what he wanted to study. After settling on
Latin American studies, deRoock left Reed in the middle
of his sophomore year and plans to enroll at the University
of Arizona, which boasts an entire degree program on
the topic. "Here," he says of Reed, "I am able to take
one class per semester in that area."
Reed's recent decision to hire at least eight new faculty
members--the process will begin next month--could bring
more options for students like deRoock. The college
has tentatively selected eight positions to fill, and
three are focused on multicultural studies.
Savery hopes that by changing the curriculum, Reed
will attract more minority professors. "Right now, we
just don't have the support system for ethnic students
when they come," he says.
Still, change will be slow. Because of the large cost
of hiring so many new professors, Steinberger says it
could take 10-15 years to fill all the posts, and there
is no guarantee that Reed will choose any of the three
multicultural slots proposed.
DeRoock doesn't hold out much hope for big changes.
"It is good to see people fighting for diversity in
the curriculum," he says. "It's just that to include
multicultural studies in the curriculum, one has to
undermine the whole system of academia."
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Willamette Week | originally
published August 11,
1999
