http://digital.lib.buffalo.edu/upimage/VF_I18A_003.pdf

Media

Part of Letter to President Ketter, circa 1972

Text

President Ketter:
There are sins of omission and sins of commission.
Your hatchet men have committed while you have omitted.
You have turned your head while:
1.

Professor Gayles is terminated in Music
(yet Professor Halstead remains)
Professor Gayles cannot go.

2.

Professor David Banks is discriminated against and
denied tenure. He is eligible and has to get tenure.

3.

Mrs. Eddins was forced out of the School of Nursing.
She is being considered for an appointment full-time
in Black Studies. We students wish one extra line
11 Halth
for two courses:
Related Problems in the
"
Black Community ,
and Social Problems in the Black
Community." We need a minority line for this course
to be taught by her. We do not wish to use the line
vacated by James Miller for this purpose. We are
interviewing Afro-American males, with PhD's, to fill
James Miller's Faculty line. We demand an additional
line.

4.

Dr. Arthur Anderson was unduly eased out of the
Cooperative Community College. His elimination was
justified on some tremulous grounds of alleged errors.
(As if white administrators have not even unwisely
spent University funds.
Somehow 'errors' are a
privilege of the Ruling white overlords.)
He was replaced by a female administrative assistant
yet Mrs. Arnold was considered ineligible for EPIS.

5.

Mrs. Arnold, who had acted as Director for EPIS was
shoved out under pretext that she was never officially
appointed (This, despite the fact that she had been
an efficient assistant to Mr. Peasant and had covered
the Program for over half of the semester with staff
and student support).
further:
Attempts have been made to harrass Mrs. Arnold out
of her job, declare her inefficient, and to force her
off the Campus. Mrs. Arnold had greater credibility
or at least as much as Dr. Anderson's replacement
(or any other like administrative replacement in the
university).
Mrs. Arnold cannot be forced out of the
university.

6.

Mrs. Emma Reynolds was forced out of EPIS (for
whatever reasons) in such a -manner that she is
ineligible for
unemployment benefits. A termina­
-tion
date, 4-6
weeks· later would have avoided this
personal tragedy. Mrs. Reynolds was no less efficient
than the counsellors whe left behind. The students
gained more from her than some who have been left
behind. Despite petitions there was no response to
students' requests for reconsideration of her.

Who will fall next by the "efficiency experts"

hands?.

What redress do you have for those abused during this
school year?
Further:
You have turned your head while:
A Black Pyramid is created on this campus -- a veritable
university within a university.
This Black Pyramid relieves you and the unyieldin·g racest
faculties from having to truly integrate.
Rather than integrate with minorities there has been a
creation of a Black ghetto within the University system
with its new assistants to imperialistic bureaucratics
sanctioned and manipulated to manipulate us for the
Administration. We have seen this strategy of containment before.
We are being tricked into taking unjust orders because
the messengers that bring them are of our own. We are
not staisfied with the token placement of Black faces
in either departments or administrative positions.
Lines of cormnunication do not flow upwards in the minority
pyramid. Orders flow down through it from the white
overlords.
For these greviances we, the minority people, have cons­
tituted
ourselves
·-.. .
.•
.
. as our own
- . . committee·- ..on minority• affairs ad· ·. :

•'

vising you to address yourself to these problems.
Knowing the tactic of "setting up an advisory commission
to solve the crises among th e natives;"

we,

th e minority

population at U.B. constitute d ourselves

as the Commission.

We have decided to . offer the solutions:
Administrative Structure
1.

Minority Students Office:
Set up a committee to review by the 15th of April, yearly,
the compliance of each Faculty and department within the
university to Office of Equal Opportunity guidelines.
The committee should be composed of minority faculty
and students from the various segments of the university.
This committee shall be established by the minority faculty
and students and have four representatives on the University wide compliance (or affirmative action) body, (Described under Office of Equal . Opportunity, OEO)
Restructuring of Minority Programs Into One
Black Pyramid
We feel minority programs are being structured into a

segregationist· concentration plan where the university appoints
.

.

-

.

oversears under the guise of efficiency to remove the sizeable
representation

of minorities from the campus.

style operation is an evasion of integration.

This plantation
Minority admini­

strators are to be as accountable to the minority population
on this campus as are the white faculty and students.
White provosts, chairmen and representatives to the various
structures of power are voted upon or at

least move up in the

structure through affirmation from their colleagues and cons­
tituency.
However, the university insists on containing minorities
by imposing "white approved" administrators upon the minority
students and faculty.

As of this day:
Minority Faculty by vote shall have determination on
candidates
for administrative positions
i
situations where white faculty vote

in all parallel
for white administrators.

Candidates for top administrative posts, who are brought
in should be introduced to the minority

faculty through at

least two weeks advanced review of vitae.

In interview ses­

sions conducted with the administration, the minority faculty
will have 2/3 representatives and two students or be permitted to hold an interview separately.

An advisory decision will

be sent to the President from the minority faculty of the
minority

student unions as a group advice after these inter-

views.

Minority Student Welfare
1.

Orientation Program
Each year the Office of Minority Students Affairs with the

minority student unions (PODER, BSU and Indian Students Associa­
tion) should have funds for a week long oneutation program for
in-coming minority students.
(a)

Here there should be an input from the University
Placement Office to provide information on the long
range predictions on job opportunities and to familia­
rize students with functioning of that office. This
would have to be conducted by minority and a white
officer from University Placement and a representa­
tive from Minority Student Affairs Office. The
white officer should be of the senior staff in
Placement who have facts to offer.

DRAFT

1.

Orientation Program (cont'd.)
(b)

Through the Minority Student Affairs Office and
Minority Students Associations, a series of work­
shops to familiarize students with the departments,
their requirements, and the types of occupations
possible for graduates in each area.

Remediation
Relatively uncomplicated, less expensive and above all,
inteqrated remedial programs, which would be effective, could
be implemented through key departments.

1.

Remedial courses do not have to form a segregated
block within the university as if only minorities
need remediation.
The Department of English should attach a component
of minority faculty to give an intensive program
in GRAMMAR COMPREHENSION (not Black literature) and
speed reading. The student would be required to
take these two courses if his reading level fell be­
low scores provided by a generally administered test
for Blacks and whites.
The University would be responsible . for emphasising
that th.is be a quality grammar and comprehension
course.
During that semester, students would be
permitted to take one course less and have two-2 hour
sessions every other day for a total of six class­
room hours per week. Students would be tested at
the end of the semester and be allowed to repeat
this course once without credit penalty.

If remediation is found necessary in natural sciences, then
mathematics and physical science departments hould serve these
functions in the manner that the English Department would do.
We object to being set off as . intellectually incapacitated.
There are whites with disadvantaged backgrounds.

s

A Tenure Review Committee:

for Minorities

Such a committee shall be established with two minority
representatives from the faculty within which minority candidate
comes; two advisory minority representatives .from outside the
University of Buffalo who are established in the academic area
of the candidate, _and any tenured minority
The

committee

to

be

constituted

in

member of the de-

consultation

with

.

the Office of
of Equal

Opportunity

partment from which the candidate comes. ^ This group will send
its vote to the President.
If the departmental. vote differs, then the Minority Tenure
Committee shall meet with the Departments Committee, the President,
and an officer from the Compliance Body discussed herein.
If there is a greviance then it. passes into the compliance
office if not it return to the President for decision.
Greviances
A minority Greviance Board will be established through
elections by minority faculty and studnets. They may
hear separately minority greviances
and
will be represented at every proceeding by the main
university Greviance Body.
The list of members will change annually as elections
should be held annually.
There shall be a list of 12 members
Blacks,
Puerto
Ricans,
Indians, therepresentation
of each
group
to be
.
determined
in c o n s u l t a t i o n
with
the
Office of Equal
Opportunity
For each hearing there should be a body of six. There
should be a representative from each group with one
faculty and one student, wherever such faculty are
available. At least two faculty should always be present in the group of six.
They may hear minority student grevianccs and faculty
grevianccs. On faculty greviances Faculty representation
should be at least 2/3 of the group vi ce -versa for students.

THE FACULTY SENATE
The structure . of the Faculty Senate demanding representa­
tives by intent or oversight excludes representation from
minority components.

A minority . faculty from each

Faculty shall be present in the faculty Senate (specifically
Blacks, Indians and Puerto Ricansi

Curriculum Review Committees of Faculties
Since Puerto Rican Studies and Black . Studies Faculty
are not justly represented on . these committees.
ing that

We are stat-

this is discriminatory.

It allows traditional . departments to vote on courses
clearly duplicating the content of these Programs and also
·does not allow for supportive discussion for courses corning
from these components.
not group . to be

The university knew these faculty were
tenured when they were admitted.

There­

fore, non-tenure is not justification.
In any event under any circumstances the Curriculum Review
Cornmi ttees shall have a minority voice (i.e., Black, Puerto
Rican and Indians).

UNIVERSITY SERVICES
University Placement
This office has been approached and have given the usually
"liberal run-around."
We need two minority placement officers as of this budget
year who are experienced with the nature of job market.

Housing
If there is racial conflicts in the dorms, why has this
been hidden from the public?
A committee of minority students and Black fauulty should
be set up to investigate the problem and offer s6lutions.

This

committee should be among names submitted to you by the Black
students and faculty.

In the same manner that Search Committees

are established.
Beyond this we wish to have a written commitment from
the university ensuring housing for minorities in the new
university complex.
Amherst Site
The university is being asked to state in writing unequivocally, where it plans to locate Black Studies, Puerto Rican
Studies and EPIS on the new site.
Black Studies Department include
(a)

African Studies in essentially white controlled turf.

(b)

will expand into a Caribbean Studies component.

c)

will be allowed to develop an inter-disciplinary
graduate program.