The Chronicle, Vol. 58, Issue 16

              Issue #16 The Chronicle page 5
SPECTRUM PROTESTS AGAINST ADMINISTRATION
By H ow a rd E . G h e e , J r .
Last wedc marked the occurrence
of something rare on the Saint Rose
campus: protests.
The protesters were members and
supporters of SPECTRUM, the
College's Black and Latino Student
Union. At issue is that group's feelings
of isolation, detachment and even
disrespect. "They actively recruit Black
and Latino people to the College. When
we get here, we feel there is nothing for
us," said Shondel Bryant, current
president of SPECTRUM. "I don't have
that problem because I'm an athlete and
I can identify with that," he continued.
"One of my goals that is written
and approved every year is to increase
the number of students of color on this
campus," said admissions director Mary
O'Donnel. "Just a few years ago, we
had about 2% (of the total population
being students of color), now it's
actually 7.7%," she added. Other
groups targeted for recruitment include
males, international students and
students in other liberal arts programs
besides education.
As a result of alienation and
isolation at the College, some students
end up transferring to another
institution. "We've come up with
proposals in an effort to keep students
here once tliey get here," said Bryant.
"If the students feel disenfranchised,
then the institution has to lake note of
that," added O'Donnel.
SPECTRUM'S proposals, sent to
Dr. Vaccaro initially in the form of a
memo, include five major proposals.
The first is the proposal of a
Multicultural Affairs Program. This
program, according to the memo, would
be established to "work with Uie entire
campus to provide for a multicultural
environment," SPECTRUM feels that
this "best can be achieved by enhancing
the present part time position of
Coordinator of Minority Services."
Tlie second proposal is the hiring of
an affirmative action officer "to ensure
tliat justice and equality is served on
campus." This officer would serve to
respond to students' grievances
co n c ern in g h a ra s sm en t and
discrimination. Additionally, according
to the proposal, "the affirmative action
officer would be at the forefrmt of these
recruitment and hiring efforts."
Proposal number three entails the
establishment of a multicultural theme
house. This would "allow us to live and
study with those of a similar
background, and other interested
students which provides a concrete and
sovereign network." The proposal
further states that "this network would
allow us to alleviate our feelings of
isolation and loneliness."
The establishment of an African
American and Latino studies program is
the fourth proposal. "This academic
program would also help the campus
achieve a more accurate image of
African American and Latino students,
better understand their ethnic heritage
and would facilitate interactions
between ourselves and members of the
'majority culture.'"
The final proposal brought to the
president is to hire a recruiter of color
for students of color. In SPECTRUM'S
memo, this practice, if instituted, would
"show that the recruitment of students
of color is a major priority of the
campus."
These proposals were delivered to
Dr. Vaccaro, and members of
SPECTRUM participated in a meeting
D em o n s tra to r s h o ld h a n d s a n d p ra y .
with the President's Executive
Committee on March 15. As a result of
that meeting, a special task force was
proposed. It will be made up of three
administrators (Jack Calareso, Father
Chris DeGiovine and Mary O'Donnel),
four faculty members (Ben Clancy,
Ismael Ramos, Sandy Robinson-
Cadman and Simona Sung), one staff
member (Joanne Wilson) and four
students (Carlos Mills, Danielle Bartlett,
Solome Mukasa and Boupha Sinphay).
The task force will be responsible
for addressing the following charges:
articulate a definition for the term
"multiculturalism" and what it m e^s at
Saint Rose; collect information and
analyze the current situation at the
College relative to multicultural
concerns; and develop an action plan
that is consistent with the mission
statement of the College and realistic in
terms of resources. The task force is
due to hold its first meeting later this
week.A
fter it gets initiated, the task force
will meet on a regular basis. Dr. Jack
Calareso, who will convene and chair
the force, hopes to accomplish much
over the summer. "If a cross
constituency is unable to meet,
however, then the task force will not
meet. We want equal representation,"
he said.
"We would engage in open
meetings that could allow open dialog
and try to reach a consensus, at least
some sense of support. Decisions won't
be reached by the committee in isolation
from the community," Calareso
continued. "The conclusions developed
ought to be defensible."
While dialog did take place, during
the March 15 meeting was not as
effective as had been hoped. "The main
point of disagreement here," said
Vaccaro, "is that members of
SPECTRUM have already said that
internationalism has no place in
multiculturalism. We're not saying it’s
going to happen (grouping the two
together). We want to study it. We're
in a tight budget.
"SPECTRUM has proposed
keeping minority student affairs
separate from those of international
students. According to the March 30,
1994 memo sent by Bryant to Vaccaro,
"multiculturalism is a domestic problem
that deals (with) the problems and
concerns of American minorities:
African Americans, Latino Americans,
Native Americans and Asian
Americans. This is not an issue that
deals with the plight of international
students. They should remain in their
already established support based
program."
Bryant added, "the International
Studies program gets more (financial)
support." He also stated that
SPECTRUM realizes the degree of
financial constraints faced by the
College.
Not only are there financial
constraints, but also time constraints.
To implement a new academic program,
for example, requires many phases. The
president sends the proposal to a
committee, either to graduate or
undergraduate for a vote. The
undergraduate committee further
presents it to the full faculty for a vote.
"If the task force presents this proposal
to Dr. Vaccaro in December, it can
potentially be put in practice by the
following fall," added Calareso.
"My understanding is the History
and Political Science department has
already developed and AJfrican-Latino
studies concentration, which would be
started in the fall," said Vaccaro.
SPECTRUM is confused by the
third charge of the task force, which is
to develop an action plan ex proposals to
address concerns of multiculturalism.
As a result, SPECTRUM believes that it
has not been heard. The group decided
a protest was necessary.
The protest was started in an
attempt to be heard and show the
group's commitment to this issue.
Starting last Wednesday, two protests
Continued on page 6
D R . V A C C A R O ’S R E S PO N S E
TO S P E C T R UM 'S R EQ U E S T
April 29, 1994-On February 23,
Spectrum—Black and Latino Student
Union--wrote a memo to me outlining a
list of requests that addressed the needs
of African American and Latino
students at Saint Rose. In response to
that memo, I invited Spectrum leaders
to join me and members of the
President’s Executive Committee at a
meeting on March 16. Later, on April
11, we met again to continue our
discussion.
Out of our dialogs, and partly as a
consequence of previous discussions by
the President's Executive Conunittee, I
decided to form a presidential task force
to consider multicultural issues on our
campus. Invited to accept ^pointment
to the task force are three members of
the President's Executive Committee:
Jack Calareso, chair, Mary O'Donnel
and Fr. Chris DeGiovine; along with
four faculty members (Ben Clancy,
Ismael Ramos, Sandy Robinson-
Cadman and Sunona Sung); one staff
member (Joanne Wilson); and four
students (Carlos Mills, Solome Mukasa,
Danielle BarUett and Boupha Sinphay).
To date, all but one person has agreed to
serve on this task force. Dr. Jack
Calareso has plans to call a meeting of
the task force within the next week or
two.
It is my hope and expectation tiiat
this task force will engage the entire
College community in dialog
concerning multiculturalism. The chief
objectives of the task force are to:
Articulate a definition for the term
"multiculturalism" and what it means at
Saint Rose; Collect information and
analyze the current situation at the
College relative to multicultural
concerns; and develop an action
plan/proposal to address these concerns
that is boUi consistent witii the mission
of the College and realistic in terms of
resources.
I have asked the task force to
complete its study and submit
recommendations to me by December
1994.
I realize that some individuals may
feel that the E)ecember deadline is too
far off. However, as you already know,
this year has been a year of financial
"belt-tightening." And I foresee the
possibility of "belt-tightening"
continuing throughout the next few
years. Therefore, I have asked that the
Continued on page 6
A lb an y police e s c o r t d em o n s tra to r s a c ro s s M ad iso n Ave.