Letters to the Editor | ESC faculty quotas a misguided plan

The Ethnic Studies debate has grabbed a lot of attention on Vassar’s campus. While the Ethnic Studies Coalition (ESC) deserves some credit for its role in making students aware of the dire need for minorities in academic positions, all the wrong things can be done with the best intentions. I recognize the concern of the ESC, but I vehemently disagree with their assertion that Vassar College is somehow unaware of the lack of minority academics. Vassar, despite being a small liberal arts college, has already made great strides in the hiring of minority professors.

Additionally, recent letters to the editor and the Ethnic Studies student-faculty conversation have shown us that the legality of the proposed hiring scheme and prohibitive costs of a repetitive interdisciplinary program are all valid concerns.

Debate over ESC’s ideology is one thing that is noticeably absent in the dialogue for or against the changes. I would like to address these issues, because I feel that they are not raised out of extreme fear of being labeled “racially insensitive.” Often, a truly liberating education requires honest dialogue. This is why we shouldn’t allow the ESC to hold the moral high ground based on its claim to represent a minority voice. At the bottom of all this confusion lies a central truth that everyone is trying to avoid: there are students at Vassar who honestly believe their role models and advisors can only be faculty of color! That is profoundly disturbing at best. An academic environment should never be held hostage to the shackles of racial requirements regardless of the race in question.

Why do some students feel an African culture course can only be addressed by an African professor? The idea that only an African can understand African culture is an argument that holds no water. I am an African myself, and I had gone to the most elite schools in my country before making it to Vassar. If the ESC had its way, I would be considered the most qualified person to speak on African culture, but I am not sure I could fulfill such a role. There are certainly non-Africans out there who know much more about Africa than I do. I would let them take the role of educating others on Africa. So let’s disentangle our education from the racial identity of a professor and engage the ESC in more ideological debates. A lasting awareness of racial diversity doesn’t come from an Ethnic Studies quota. It comes from honest and well-meaning discourse. For that to happen, we need to create spaces where students can ask questions without the stigma of name-calling. The ESC needs to convince the Vassar student body that it represents students and has an interest in fostering communication rather than an introverted focus on racial identity.

—Philipose Mulugeta ’07