10-6-98

OHIO STATE PART OF NATIONAL DIALOGUE ON RACE AND DIVERSITY

	COLUMBUS -- Can colleges and universities create healthier 
relationships between the races?  Can those relationships provide 
leadership for other segments of American society?

	Many in higher education leadership believe the answer is 
yes.  Both the Association of American Colleges and Universities 
(AAC&U) and the American Council on Education have launched major 
national initiatives directed at fostering dialogue and 
understanding on issues of race and diversity.

	The Ohio State University is participating in both of these 
national initiatives, as well as creating some programs and 
activities of its own.  President William E. Kirwan, who chairs 
the board of directors of AAC&U, has stated many times that 
enhancing diversity at Ohio State is one of the four top 
priorities of his administration.

	“I am personally committed to diversity,” Kirwan said.  “I 
share with many people across this campus a view that combines a 
philosophical belief about the importance and value of diversity, 
about correcting mistakes and oversights that have been made in 
the past, with an understanding that the demographics of our 
nation are changing.  If we in higher education don’t become more 
inclusive, we threaten the economic vitality and social well-
being of our nation.”

	Kirwan recently appointed Ed Ray, interim senior vice 
president and provost, to lead a comprehensive study of what Ohio 
State is doing with regard to diversity.  An outside consultant 
also will be brought in to provide another viewpoint. 


The National Initiatives

Association of American Colleges and Universities
Racial Legacies and Learning: An American Dialogue

	Ohio State is one of more than 50 universities invited to 
participate in Racial Legacies and Learning, which fosters 
communication between campuses and communities on issues of race.  
It is sponsored by the Ford Foundation and designed to support 
President Clinton’s Initiative on Race.  It began last April and 
today (10/6) issues results of a nationwide poll gauging public 
attitudes toward diversity in higher education.

	The project is organized around the question, “How can 
higher education, with its local communities, prepare graduates 
to address the legacies of racism and the opportunities for 
racial reconciliation in the United States?”

	Racial Legacies and Learning gives higher education an 
opportunity to create partnerships with local communities.  
Rather than letting definitions be established by headlines and 
unchallenged assumptions, the participating AAC&U institutions 
believe that, through these partnerships, campuses can create 
healthier intergroup relations and mirror possibilities for the 
future of our increasingly diverse and multiracial society.

	Among the events planned at Ohio State this year are three 
town meetings, several study trips and a film series.  On Oct. 
15, in conjunction with Homecoming, there will be a diversity 
fair for students and a Dialogue on Race featuring President 
Kirwan and Frank W. Hale Jr., vice provost for minority affairs 
emeritus. 

	Additional information about the Racial Legacies and 
Learning initiative can be found at the AAC&U Web site:

http://www.aacu-edu.org/Initiatives/legacies.html


American Council on Education
A National Public Higher Education Initiative
to Strengthen Support for Diversity in Higher Education

	The ACE believes the current public debate over the role of 
affirmative action in promoting access and diversity in higher 
education has become confused and misdirected.  In response, the 
organization has promoted several efforts to define and clarify 
the value of student diversity and affirmative action in college 
admissions.

	ACE believes that affirmative action and diversity 
initiatives are positive strategies for expanding higher 
education opportunities for traditionally underrepresented 
students and for improving the education experience of all 
students.  However, recent court rulings and ballot measures have 
put the future of these initiatives in question.

	ACE seeks to fulfill six goals through research and 
dialogue:

1. To coordinate efforts of the many organizations working in 
this area
2. To analyze new data and conduct other research that will aid 
in understanding public perceptions of campus diversity
3. To identify sources of negative public perception of 
affirmative action and develop strategies to overcome them
4. To assist college and university leaders already engaged in 
these efforts and to help plan a coordinated response by the 
larger higher education community
5. To help university leaders find effective means of increasing 
public support for affirmative action and diversity 
initiatives
6. To explore the formation of a coalition of leaders from higher 
education, business and foundations to spearhead a national 
effort to improve educational opportunities.

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Contacts: David Williams II, vice president for student and 
urban/community affairs, (614) 292-9334
Ed Ray, interim senior vice president and provost, (614) 292-5881