Like many of you know, the Greater New Haven NAACP President wrote an open article outlining the dismay their leadership has had with the University administration’s stance on cultural sensitivity and diversifying its personnel.
Many people are reading too deeply into the language and statistics indicated in the article. The comments on the Internet call for protest against what the NAACP is trying to achieve here, while not asking why these concerns are even being discussed.
The University has indeed made great strides in diversifying its administrative staff.
The concern from a student perspective however, is there is not enough appropriate representation within the ranks of the administration or within the University’s faculty/staff for needs and concerns of the underrepresented student populations to be adequately addressed.
As a male student of African American decent, who has been involved in discussions with the University and the Greater New Haven NAACP on the issues, I do believe that while we have made progress here at the University, more work can and needs to be done.
I believe both sides have their hearts in the right place. However, since neither can agree on how to appropriately address the issues, they need to meet half way on how and when they can achieve their goals. I do not believe The Greater New Haven NAACP should dictate who the University hires, but I do support the facilitation on how candidates are hired, and would stress the importance of making cultural sensitivity (no matter what the candidates background) be taken into account before the hiring process occurs.
The NAACP has assisted in pushing several concerns forward in terms of the UNH administration making issues surrounding diversity more University driven. And since President Kaplan began his tenure here, female personnel have been added throughout the ranks within his administration as well as within the departments below. The University is indeed going in the right direction. But this should continue to be an ongoing process of changes within the ranks, and making sure underrepresented students are appropriately represented.
The NAACP is looking to diversify the faculty, staff, and administration at the University, and make it more reflective of the student population who attend here. This concern is not limited to the civil rights group outside of our walls. These concerns have been raised amongst the underrepresented students for several years now. Three years ago the UNH NAACP Chapter leadership made the decision to bring in the Greater New Haven NAACP to bring these matters to the front lines. The lack of representation on the student level or within the administrative ranks made things difficult to get those concerns adequately addressed. With growing numbers of African American and Hispanic / Latino populations, where are these students supposed to go to get their concerns or needs addressed?
The perceived cultural sensitivity within the current personnel is limited. It’s not about race; it’s about representation. It’s about needs and concerns being addressed appropriately and not being swept off to the side as it has been in the past. When there is limited underrepresented student leadership and diverse personnel limited to mid-level positions, those voices only get carried so far. So the ones saying: “there’s no cultural sensitivity issues here, UNH is fine,” or “all they’re doing is looking for a hand out,” I say to you, if that is the case than why do some underrepresented students feel the way they do? Why are these concerns even being printed in the news? Who should they go to about getting these concerns addressed? You cannot dismiss a perception without hearing out both sides.
The University of New Haven is a diverse but divided community, and the sooner we come together and better understand everyone’s background and their different perspectives of the world, the better we will be.
