The Red and Black (Athens, Ga.) 1893-current, May 17, 1984, Image 1

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Newspaper Page TextTHE RED AND BLACK An independent student newspaper serving the University of Georgia community Athens, Go. Vol. 91, No. 107 Thursday, May 17, 1984 News 543-1809 Advertising 543-1791 Harris: He has no feud with Skandalakis By SUSAN LACCETTI Krd and Blark Hun WriUr Gov Joe Frank Harris denied Wednesday an ongoing feud between himself and Board of Regents Chairman John Skan- dalakis concerning next month's election of a new regents chairman But Skandalakis accused the governor of meddling and en dangering the University System's national accreditation. At his regular weekly press conference, Harris said he and Skandalakis have no bad blood between them, and that Skan dalakis is creating a skirmish by vowing to succeed himself The regents will vote on a new chairman at their June 12 meeting Traditionally, the chairman only serves one term A term lasts a year beginning each June "There is absolutely no power grab on our part,” Harris said Tuesday at his office in the state Capitol in Atlanta “If there is any power grab at all. I guess it would be in Dr Skan dalakis wanting to stay on." "This is none of his business.” Skandalakis said “This is a tragic phenomenon and if they continue to do this we will lose accreditation" However, Kay Miller, the system vice chancellor for Public Relations, said the issue between Harris and the board won t endanger national accreditation She said the skirmish instead might damage the state's reputation for providing quality higher education During Gov Eugene Talmadge's administration in 1950, gubernatorial interference did threaten the system's na tional accreditation. Talmadge sought the resignation of a University professor, but the governor dropped the matter UGA deseg plans are looking good when politicians and educators throughout the country ex pressed outrage. Since its inception, the system has remained autonomous, unlike most state departments, from executive or legislative control The department was organized in this fashion to avoid political infighting Regent Marie Dodd, who served as chairman for the 1981-82 term, said the regents resent the governor's sugges tion that his recent appointee to the board. Arthur Gignilliat. succeed Skandalakis. Dodd said the regents would like to see Skandalakis re elected to maintain stability within the board because il will soon choose a new system chancellor Chancellor Vernon Crawford will retire in Jure 1985 “I don't know that supporting a candidate is part of the responsibility of the governor." Dodd said. "When we found we had to search for a new chancellor, we asked that the chairman serve a two-year term for continuity." The Georgia chapter of the American Association of University Professors lobbied against a 1983 state legislative bill that proposed putting the regents and the system under General Assembly control. A committee killed the bill because of widespread fear that political infighting would ruin the reputation of Georgia's 33 public universities and colleges. Paul Kelly, the president of the University’s AAUP chapter, said Harris' comments and concerns about the elec tion set a "dangerous precendent " Asked Kelly "What might (the governor's office)...be deciding tomorrow about University affairs? By JANINE FAUCHER Red and Black Struor Reporter The University System and the federal government appear to have reached a compromise in their long standing dispute over alleged racial discrimination and University Presi dent Fred Davison said Wednesday the University is "looking good" in its desegregation efforts Davison and Affirmative Action Officer Len Davis addressed an open faculty meeting in the law school auditorium to outline the history and present status of the University's desegregation plans "Our efforts have been good and they'll have to stay good if we hope to improve our status." Davison said Davis presented a 30-minute lecture to the 45-member audience, praising the University's 1.76 percent disparity between desegregation enrollment goals and actual figures for 1982 and 1983 The fall 1982 black enrollment goal set for the University was 1,500 black students or 6 96 percent of total enrollment. Davis said The enrollment last fall was 1.291 students, or 5.2 percent of total enrollment The disparity occurred even though the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights set the goal without considering enrollment projections, the declining baby-boom population and the fewer young black Georgians in general, he said "The 47 percent increase in black students from 1979 to 1983 was the second highest increase in black enrollment in the entire University System during that period." Davis said "Our enrollment of National Achievement Scholars in the freshman class of 1983 was among the top 10 in stitutions in the country ." As directed by the OCR, the University has maintained a minority recruitment officer and visited high schools in recruiting attempts The University visited eight times the number of high schools the OCR required and established a minority advising program. Davis said. The University also distributed recruiting announcements, news releases and broadcast public-service spots to minority organizations, newspapers and radio stations across the state Despite those and other figures, Davis said the University still faces a possible loss of federal funding because of the government s dispute with the system Davis also defended the University's figures in hiring of minority faculty members The OCR set a black employment level of 3 5 percent for faculty members with doctorates and 8 percent for those with master's degrees “However, there are numerous fallacies for using these percentages as the basis for employment goals.” Davis said. "These goals assume that any emerging black doctorate or master's Dodd, left, says the board resents Harris, center, suggesting a successor for Skandalakis, right "When you go beyond commenting and bring pressure to “For the governor to say he would like Arthur Gignilliat as bear, that's when there is danger involved," he said. the chairman, I don't see that as interference," Wagner said. But Don Wagner, the AAUP executive secretary, said that “He is not a puppet on one of Joe Frank’s strings.” if the regents elect Gignilliat, they shouldn't worry that the Material from The Associated Press contributed to this governor will control the board. story. Review board to decide on SAE return to campus MarKarrt Kritfkr The Red and Black Len Davis degree holder is willing to embark on a career in higher education, that traditionally white institutions can compete with the traditionally black institutions on equal footing, and that the number of black degree holders is declining and moving away from education Into business, medicine and law,” Davis said The University's black employment rate is three times the national average, DOE figures show While the University is working to improve its minority rates, the OCR and the University System have reached a tentative agreement, the Atlanta Constitution reported Wed nesday “State officials hope to settle Georgia's regents test dispute with the federal government by pumping $500,000 worth of privately donated computer equipment into remedial programs at black colleges.” the Constitution article slates. Kay Miller, the system vice chan cellor for Public Education, wouldn't confirm or deny the statement because of legal technicalities By ANDY SMITH KH and Blark Mentor Reporter Sigma Alpha Epsilon, the Univer sity's oldest fraternity, may be back on campus after a two-year probation if all goes well at a review Monday. “I'm hoping to have the review process done by the last IFC meeting in two weeks," said John Opper, the adviser to the Interfraternity Council "I want to have (SAEi back in the council and have 25 fraternities for fall rush." SAE will present to Opper the chapter’s progress since its dismissal from campus in 1982 Upper will examine SAE's orientation for pledges, recruitment and handling of financial obligations. "My task will be to examine all these provisions and try to determine the general health of the fraternity's organization," Opper said Bill Bracewell, the director of Student Judicial Programs, said, “a series of little, irritating, obnoxious things that have happened since the beginning of (1982)" led to SAE's dismissal that year. After conducting his review, Opper will send his recommendations to Phil Weast, the associate director of Student Activities. Bracewell and officers who heard SAE's case at the original hearing two years ago Bracewell said that if the review goes smoothly, the decision for SAE to come Bill Bracewell back on campus will rest with him and Weast. “If Dr. Weast and I decided they could come back and they were happy, it would go no further," he said. Bracewell said that after the original 1982 hearing SAE appealed the decision to Dwight Douglas, the vice president for Student Affairs, and later to the president's office. “I wouldn't presume to set myself up as the ultimate word on anything," Bracewell said. Bracewell said he and Weast will examine different criteria than Opper “He’s looking more in the leadership direction," Bracewell said. “Dr. Weast and I will be looking at the things that affected the original decision: control and discipline.” The major reason for SAE's dismissal in 1982 was the burning of a car and the harrassment of firemen who tried to put out the fire. In a May 1 article. The Red and Black incorrectly stated that SAE had cut down an 80-year-old tree in 1982 In stead, Sigma Nu cut down the tree. IFC Vice President for Public Relations Paul Pendergrass said, "I think the IFC realizes SAE has returned things to a more orderly state. “I think they've made tremendous progress and I would be glad to see them get back in. They're a solid fraternity with a lot of tradition, specifically at the University of Georgia.” Billy Huger, the president of SAE, said, “We’re real optimistic ourselves I don't see any problems and everything's been going very well." Huger said SAE has played a larger role in its national organization and has greatly improved its leadership since the 1982 dismissal "Our organization has come a long way." Huger said "Things have all fit back together like the pieces of a puzzle." The Red and Black account of University integration Today 30th anniversary of desegregation decision But black grad says black hiring behind By JILl.t ORSON Red and RUrk Mentor Reporter Today marks the 30th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that racial segregation in public schools is unconstitutional, but, according to one of the University's first black students, desegregation goals since then remain unmet. The Supreme Court issued its decision in the Brown vs Board of Education case May 17,1954 The decision reversed the Court's 1896 decision as applied lo public schools and ruled that "separate but equal" is a contradiction in terms. More than six years later, on Jan 11, 1961, Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter Gault were the first two blacks to attend classes at the Universi ty Thirty years ago. Georgia Governor Ernest Van diver threatened to close the University if Holmes and Hunter-Gault were admitted Now. the U.S. Department of Education threatens to cut off $200 million in the state's federal funding for higher education if the state doesn't come up with satisfactory amendments to its desegregation plan The DOE'S Office for Civil Rights asserts that the University System doesn't offer sufficient regents test remediation for students at three historically black institutions — Albany. Fort Valley and Savan nah state colleges. Holmes now practices orthopedic surgery in Atlan ta and serves as a trustee on the University of Georgia Foundation. "I think the greater number of black students at the University is obvious.” Holmes said, referring to the ratio of black and white students in 1961 "But the University hasn’t made much progress in hiring black faculty and administration," he said. "The system certainly hasn't made as much progress as it could ha ve in 30 years.'' Holmes said that although he hasn't seen the regents test, he doesn't believe it is racially biased, as the OCR originally claimed “It’s my feeling that people who graduate from col lege should be able to pass a standardized basic skills test,” he said. Holmes said blacks are more readily accepted than he and Hunter-Gault were in 1961 Both students had sought admission to the University since the summer of 1959 In January 1961, a U.S. District Judge in Macon. William Bootle, ordered the University to “im mediately admit" both Holmes and Hunter-Gault. Bootle said in his order that the University discriminated against the two on the basis of race At the time, state law prohibited the use of state funds for integrated schools Under the law, the University couldn't admit Holmes and Hunter-Gault and still get state funds. As the students registered for winter quarter classes on Jan 9,1961, Judge Bootle granted a stay of his previous order while the state fought to prevent the two from entering classes. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the stay within a matter of hours, which sparked rioting on campus. On the evening of the 10th, about 150 students gathered at the arches to protest the presence of Holmes and Hunter-Gault, burning an effigy of Holmes and throwing rocks and bottles at H inter- Gault's dormitory room window in Myers Hall. Later that night, more than 1,000 students gathered on the University track to witness a cross burning From the first two blacks in a student body of 7,000, the University's black student population has risen to 5.2 percent of the student body — 1,246 of 24,371 students as of fall quarter 1983 But this higher proportion has not come without dif ficulty In 1970, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund filed a class-action lawsuit against Georgia and nine other states, charging them with operating dual, segregated university systems In response, the regents set up a series of Af firmative Action goals, and the OCR ordered them to keep yearly records on the progress made toward meeting those goals The system operated this way until 1977 In 1977, the OCR said the system violated the 1970 Court order by not making satisfactory progress in its desegregation plan By 1979, the regents came up with a new plan accep table to the OCR. The plan called for increased spend ing of $3 million per year for black institutions. * 7 think the greater number of blacks at the University is obvious....But the University hasn’t made much progress in hiring black faculty and administration. The system certainly hasn’t made as much progress as it could have in 30 years. ’ — Hamilton Holmes U.S. District Judge John Pratt ruled in March 1983 that the system hadn't made significant progress in eliminating segregation, and he ordered the regents to come up with changes in the 1979 plan by June 30 or face a loss of federal funds. The regents amended the plan in May, but this year, the OCR claimed the system still discriminates against students at its predominately black institu tions. Holmes spoke this morning at a breakfast seminar in Atlanta sponsored by Apple Corps, or Atlanta Parents and Public Linked for Education, to com memorate the 30th anniversary of the public schools desegregation decision According to a story in the May 13 Atlanta Journal and Constitution, an Apple Corps brochure says, "The 30th anniversary of the school desegregation suit gives Atlantans the opportunity to reflect on citizens' efforts to aid school desegregation; chart our progress over the last 30 years, remember the mission of Brown and note how school desegregation has opened doors of access outside of school as well; and reaffirm our direction." Six seminars running from 9:30 a.m. to 1 pm, will feature as speakers, Regent Jesse Hill, Barbara Hat ton, dean of the College of Education at Atlanta University, Jean Young, the wife of Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young and others.

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The Red and Black (Athens, Ga.) 1893-current, May 17, 1984, Image 1