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ACM Committee on Minority Concerns |
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The ACM Committee on Minority Concerns seeks to develop ways to enhance the recruitment, retention and experiences of minority students, faculty and staff at the ACM colleges. The committee meets twice a year. Information is available from Betsy Hutula at ACM (312/263-5000). Or contact a committee member at your college.
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Fall 2006 Developing an ACM diversity agenda is the current focus of the Committee on Minority Concerns. Working with ACM staff and three academic deans, the committee seeks to develop an agenda that will reflect the many different aspects of diversity and approaches toward achieving it on ACM campuses. The committee worked to refine its views on the approach the consortium should take in helping colleges achieve campus diversity. Interested individuals should contact the chair of the committee, Sedric McClure (Multicultural Counselor and Summer Programs Coordinator, Macalester) or Kim Tunnicliff at ACM. |
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Spring 2006 The ACM Committee on Minority Concerns met on March 31 - April 2, 2006 at Lawrence University in Appleton, WI. to begin discussions on the nature of an ACM diversity agenda. Working with ACM staff and with the guidance and participation of three academic deans, the committee seeks to develop an agenda that will reflect the many different aspects of diversity and the many approaches toward achieving it on ACM campuses. |
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Fall 2005 The ACM Committee on Minority Concerns met at Cornell College on October 1-2, 2005. Twelve ACM colleges were represented and 19 representatives were in attendance. As is customary, each of the schools presented information on minority student enrollments for the fall, along with data on the minority faculty on campus; tenured, tenure-track, and visiting. Additional information included a summary of program events relevant to diversity held in the 2004-05 academic year. The theme for the 2005-06 academic year is "Multi-Cultural Affairs within a Multi-ethnic Community." Following a presentation of data and campus reports on recruitment, retention and campus climate, the committee was addressed by Diane Finnerty, the Director of Training at the National Resource Center for Family-Center Practice and formerly the Diversity Resources Coordinator in the University of Iowa's Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity. The title of Ms. Finnerty's talk was "Creating Allies within a Predominantly White Campus." She emphasized the importance of recognizing and cultivating white allies within the local community to maximize multicultural resources. At the October 16-17, 2005 meeting of the ACM Advisory Board of Deans the issue of campus diversity was discussed at length. The Board encouraged the development of a proposal for an ACM conference on Diversity in the Curriculum for the 2006-07 academic year. Members of CMC will be working on such a proposal for consideration by the Board of Deans at their spring 2006 meeting. |
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Spring 2005 The committee’s spring 2005 meeting was held April 2-3 at Carleton College. The agenda continued the committee's 2004-05 theme of “The Role of Multiculturalism in the Civic Engagement Arena.” The meeting was coordinated by Rochelle Mason (Director of Minority Student Life, Colorado College) and Sedric McClure (Multicultural Counselor and Summer Program Coordinator, Macalester College). |
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Fall 2004 The ACM Committee on Minority Concerns held its fall 2004 meeting on September 18-19 at Ripon College. Traditionally the fall meeting focuses on campus reports and other information exchanges; the spring meeting is designed to promote professional development among the committee members. Twenty-six individuals attended with 11 ACM schools represented. The meeting was coordinated by David Seligman (philosophy, Ripon) and Heidi Christiansen (Assistant Director of Admissions, Ripon). CMC is chaired by Rochelle Mason (Director of Minority Student Life, Colorado). CMC’s theme for the academic year 2004-2005 is “The Role of Multiculturalism in the Civic Engagement Arena.” Discussion topics included service-learning, community service, public scholarship, and efforts to promote civic engagement in the curricula. A student panel, moderated by Joe Hatcher (psychology, Ripon), made a presentation to the committee on the Ripon College/Fisk University exchange program. |
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Spring 2004 On April 3-4, 2004 the ACM Committee on Minority Concerns met in Galesburg, IL. The meeting was hosted by Knox College, with Cathy Walters, Assistant Dean for Intercultural Life, coordinating the event. During its morning session, the committee heard presentations from representatives of Positive Vision on "Recruitment and Retention of Students of Color at Residential Liberal Arts Schools" and from Knox faculty and staff on "Diversity Requirements and the Knox Curriculum." In the afternoon, there was a discussion of Bridge Programs at member colleges and a student panel on multicultural and interculteral issues at Knox. On Sunday morning the committee received an outline for a proposed summer institute for rising highschool students of color. This is presently envisioned to be a two-week program involving the time and talents of faculty, student life and admissions offices. The Committee anticipates receiving a formal working paper and proposal prior to its September 18-19, 2004 meeting at Ripon College. Rod Bradley (Assistant Dean of Students for Multicultural Affairs, Lawrence) was chosen to serve on the committee's executive board. Sedric McClure (Multicultural Counselor for the MAX Center, Macalester) was chosen chair-elect of the executive committee, and will succeed Rochelle Mason (Director of Minority Student Life, Colorado) next year. |
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Fall 2003 The fall meeting of the ACM Committee on Minority Concerns was September 27-28, 2003 at Beloit College. The committee’s theme for the academic year is Access to Higher Education: Affirming the Action in the Post-Brown Era. The discussion of recruiting and retaining students of color took place in the wake of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on affirmative action. In the campus reports, most schools noted a slight increase in the number of self-identified students of color on ACM campuses, though concerns remained about sufficient programming and retention. A panel-based discussion was given by five Beloit faculty who have had to deal with the challenge of being a minority faculty member on an ACM campus. The faculty presenters were George Williams (art), Sadique Isahaku (education), Debra Magheid (religion & philosophy), Carsey Yee (history), and Pablo Toral (political science). This was the first meeting in which the committee was operating under its new three-year charge from the ACM Board of Directors. The meeting was coordinated by Marie-Josephe Descas (modern languages and literature, Beloit). |
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Spring 2003 The spring meeting of the ACM Committee on Minority Concerns took place March 29-30 at Colorado College. Eleven of the 14 ACM institutions sent representatives. The meeting was planned and organized under the direction of committee chair Rochelle Mason (Director of Minority Student Life, Colorado). Each campus submitted a report providing an overview of activities relevant to diversity at their institutions. A panel of Colorado faculty, students and alumni spoke about initiatives at Colorado, including bridge programs, which are designed to recruit and retain students of color. Brian K. Smith (Senior Associate Director of Admissions, Lake Forest) presented a mini-workshop on the admission process with regards to students of color. |
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Fall 2002 The committee met on October 5-6, 2002 at Lake Forest College in Lake Forest, IL. Twenty-eight individuals representing 12 of the 14 ACM institutions attended. This was the first meeting under the leadership of the new chair, Rochelle Mason (Director of Minority Student Life, Colorado). The meeting featured an overview of activities relevant to diversity on ACM campuses and a panel presentation of Lake Forest students of different ethnicities discussing the challenges and opportunities for students of color. The committee has established three working groups to explore the prospects for an ACM conference on diversity, the different staffing patterns at ACM colleges, and the possibility of creating a summer institute for high school students of color. |
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Spring 2002 The spring 2002 meeting of the ACM Committee on Minority Concerns was held on April 6-7, 2002 at Grinnell College. The first session was held jointly with the ACM Committee on Women’s Concerns. While the discussion was animated and lively, the committees found much common ground on broad goals but felt that their specific agendas at this time precluded any joint action. This was the first combined meeting of the committees. |
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Fall 2001 The Committee on Minority Concerns held its fall 2001 meeting at Macalester College on October 6-7, 2001. Much of the meeting was devoted to a discussion of the purpose of each office on its own campus in terms of its stated mission and campus culture. Following presentations from each campus on the population of the four principal minority groups (African-American, Asian/Pacific, Hispanic and American Indian) at each institution, the committee decided to embark on a more ambitious program of data collection and presentation. The committee will direct its energies toward a study of recruitment at ACM colleges. Three working groups have been assigned the tasks of collecting valid and reliable information on enrollment patterns over the past five years, the national profile and suggested goals for ACM schools, and suggested strategies for increased effectiveness. |
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Spring 2001 The spring 2001 meeting of the Committee on Minority Concerns took place at Monmouth College on March 31-April 1, 2001. Its organizational theme and charge was to explore the institutional responses to issues related to diversity on our campuses. Representatives from 13 ACM colleges were in attendance. Guest speakers included Marie-Josephe Descas (modern languages, Monmouth) and Farhat Haq (political science, Monmouth). There were spirited discussions on the gulf between rhetoric and practice regarding diversity, diversity and the curriculum, and the emotional toll of promoting diversity at a small liberal arts college. Also addressed were the problems of trying to “teach away racism” and thinking about standards for measuring cultural competence. In addition to the regular meeting, the committee was also addressed by a student panel. The panel discussed topics ranging from the political problem of language in the quest for an appropriate name (e.g. Minority, Multicultural, Intercultural, Diversity …), the recruitment of students of color to campus, and the interaction with other campus groups such as international student and gay lesbian bi-sexual and transsexual (glbt) student organizations. |
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Fall 2000 The ACM Committee on Minority Concerns met on October 14-15, 2000 at St. Olaf in conjunction with the ACM Minority Student and Academic Careers (MSAC) workshop. The theme of the meeting was “What’s in a Name?: The Evolution of Institutional Responses to Diversity and the Role of the Offices for Minority/ Intercultural/Multicultural Affairs.” The committee was addressed by Sheila Wright (education studies, Carleton), who spoke on the importance of perception and traced “the invasion, intrusion, entrenchment, and revolution” in race relations in the United States. There was also a spirited panel discussion on the theme with presentations from Victor Nelson-Cisneros (Acting Dean of the College, Colorado), Harry Williams (history, Carleton) and Roberto Ifill (Special Assistant to the President, Macalester). Each of them offered insights as to the evolution of race and ethnicity relations at their institutions. |
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