/^THE
Guilfordian
Greensboro, N.C.
Volume 92, Issue 23
www.guilfordian.com
April 14, 2006
Faculty question dedication to diversity
Black professor appeals negative tenure recommendation
Josh Cohen S Nasimeh Easton
Staff Writers
Guilford College has stated its
commitment to diversity and anti
racism. This commitment has
recently come into question.
Guilford College adopted a
"Diversity Hiring" policy in 2001.
The school wanted to establish
guidelines for hiring and retain
ing faculty of color to ensure a
varied teaching staff and to help
rectify past injustices.
"The term 'diversity' by itself is
almost hollow," said Jonathan
Malino, Professor of Philosophy
and member of the Clerk's
Committee, which wrote the poli
cy. "You have to define what l^ds
of diversity are educationally sig
nificant."
The school defines diversity to
"include group differences (based
on age, race, gender, sexual orien
tation, disabilities, ethnicity, reli
gion and national origin) as well
as individual differences, includ
ing career and life experiences,
socio-economic background, geo
graphic roots and other vari
ables."
The idea is that
a diverse faculty is
important to
ensure a balanced
and suitable liber
al arts education.
"Having a fac
ulty representative
of people of
diverse back
grounds, experi
ences and perspec
tives is central to
our heritage and to
the mandate we
have to prepare
our students for
the society in
which they will
live and the vocations they will
pursue," the policy states.
Malino pointed out that while
this sounds like a great idea on
paper, it does no good if the poli
cy isn't being implemented. In 2002, the school committed
"What should an anti-racist to creating an anti-racist commu-
commitment mean in a process of nity. Adrienne Israel, Vice
President and
Academic Dean,
played a large
role in creating
the anti-racism
emphasis.
"I had gone
through anti
racism training
with a group
called Crossroads
Ministries while I
was still a faculty
member, and I
wanted to
expand what I
had learned to
the whole
school," Israel
said. "A group
went to the Board of Trustees to
ask for the school's support and
commitment."
The diversity policy, particu-
Eleanor Branch was not recommended for tenure.
hiring and retaining?" Malino
asked. "Has the college followed
up this policy to find out where
else that value of diversity is
spelled out in concrete terms?"
hire faculty of color, has come into
question recently in light of
Eleanor Branch's tenure case.
Eleanor Branch, Assistant
Professor of English, was not rec
ommended for tenure, making
her the second black woman in
three years to receive a negative
tenure recommendation at
Guilford. Though the last case
may not have necessarily been
about race. Branch feels that
because she is an African
American woman who teaches
difficult subject matters, her
review was negatively affected.
"This is too bad," said junior
Thomas Warren Parker, who has
had classes with Branch for three
semesters. "If race really was the
deciding factor in whether or not
she gets tenure, then that doesn't
say a whole lot about our school."
The tenure process at Guilford
involves three evaluations. The
first comes after a professor's first
larly the desire to retain as well as Continued on page 2
HEAT augments inadequate public transit system
Olivia Honeycutt
Staff Writer
When Political Science major Sara
Poznik moved to Greensboro from
Madison, Wis., she assumed that she would
be able to ride the dty bus from her apart
ment near UNCG to Guilford College.
"I haven't ridden the bus yet," Poznik
said, 'but it's not for lack of trj^g." Poznik
said that the process was so time-consum
ing and confusing that she bought a bike
and rode the five miles to school everyday
instead.
Many cities around the world rely on
public transportation. International student
Micheline Pereira is from Belo Horizonte,
Brazil.
"In my home city, we enjoy extensive
public transportation," Pereira said.
"Everybody uses it - we need it every day.
When 1 came here, I was surprised at the
lack of transportation options. With a new
system, some students will be able to enjoy
and appreciate Greensboro more."
This August, the Greensboro Transit
Authority (GTA) will implement a new
transportation system: HEAT (Higher
Education Area Transit). This service is dif
ferent from the existing one because it is a
university- and college-focused transporta
tion system.
Currently, the GTA services the Guilford
College area with one route. Busses come
once per hour. This has left some students
imable to use public transportation to get
around Greensboro.
"I think that a change in the bus system
would be very beneficial to minority
communities in the Greensboro area," said
sociology major Cassandra LeGrande.
the minority."
Libby James, the city's Public
Transportation Division Manager, affirms
that this type of service has been needed in
the Greensboro community for a long time.
"I'm extremely excited," James said
about HEAT. "It is probably one of the most
Many complain of Greensboro’s public transportation.
"1 think attention needs to be brought to
the fact that, although the bus system pro
vides minorities with 'transportation,' it
limits us because (the system) has its own
limitations. It needs to be understood
that a better bus system would help
provide better opportunities for
exciting public transportation services
Greensboro has implemented."
The new service promises to expand
available transportation dramatically. The
system will allow students to travel
between different colleges' campuses as
well as to select stops in Greensboro. The
service is free for any student with a valid
college ID.
According to the national 2000 census,
Greensboro's college student population
was about 10 percent of the total popula
tion. Outside of Guilford College,
Greensboro is home to two state universi
ties, UNCG and NC A&T SU; two private
colleges, Greensboro and Bennett; one
multi-campus technical community college,
GTCC; and several private technical
schools.
These schools have provided funding to
the GTA to give students free access to the
citywide bus system. According to
Adrienne Craig, Coordinator of Student
Involvement and Leadership, each school
will pay an amount based on the
institution's population size. Funding will
not come from student activity fees.
"This service will not only benefit college
students," James said. "It will also provide
additional routes and riding services to the
general public."
HEAT will add new routes to the current
public transit system. Some routes that are
already in service will be enhanced. The
new routes will be express routes. This
means that stops will be kept to a mini
mum. According to their newly updated
Web site, www.rideheat.com, the GTA
encourages students to send "suggestions
for stops or other areas to be served by
HEAT."§€