Introduction

The Equal Opportunity Committee was charged with examining the status of Hispanic/Latino faculty and administrators throughout the University.  The Committee found a significant underrepresentation of Hispanic/Latino faculty and administrators, and a consensus within this community that the University has made little effort to address these inequalities.

According to the University’s own statistics (from the Office of Institutional Research and Academic Planning), only 12 of 991 full professors are Hispanics/Latinos (1.2 percent).  In total, only 49 out of 2,583 full-time faculty members are Hispanics/Latinos (1.8 percent).  Hispanic/Latino faculty members represent, by far, the smallest of the three largest minority groups at the University.  In addition, only 4 of 234 Hispanics/Latinos (1.7 percent) are listed as full-time executive, administrative or managerial staff.

The Hispanic/Latino faculty, administrators and staff who contributed to our discussion felt strongly that the lack of opportunities for advancement has lead to the exodus of numerous distinguished Hispanic/Latino faculty members.  It was also clear from our discussions that this situation has a detrimental effect the recruitment of top Hispanic/Latino faculty and administrators to the University (as illustrated in the attached report).

The Hispanic/Latino student leaders who discussed this issue with the committee helped illustrate the wider impact of this trend.  The current population of Hispanic/Latino faculty and administrators does not reflect the diversity of the student body, where Hispanics/Latinos represent 8 percent of students.  In addition, the lack of Hispanic/Latino faculty and administrators in departments beyond those dealing primarily with Hispanic/Latino culture is disheartening to a growing student population seeking inspiration, leadership and guidance.

The report of the Hispanic, Iberian, and Latino Alliance of Rutgers (HILAR) on this topic, included as an appendix to this report, provides a vital perspective on the need for the University administration to actively respond to these concerns.

The Equal Opportunity Committee proposes that the University outline a comprehensive five-year plan for recruitment and retention of Hispanic/Latino faculty and administrators, with one upcoming academic year designated with this as its primary goal.  Furthermore, the committee recommends that a high-level administrator be given the proper resources to facilitate and carry out this plan.  The committee urges that the University administration act immediately, despite the inevitable financial constraints of the near future.

Resolution

Whereas, the Hispanic/Latino community is a large, growing, and vital part of the population, economy, and cultural life of the New Jersey metropolitan area and the nation; and,

Whereas, the Hispanic/Latino community has long experienced discrimination in education, employment, and housing, as recognized by United States federal Civil Rights laws, the federal Civil Rights Commission and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and state and local Civil Rights laws and agencies in New Jersey; and,

Whereas, Rutgers University, the State University of New Jersey, has long stated its commitment to implement Affirmative Action policies of inclusion in its recruitment and retention of students and its hiring and promotion of faculty and staff, in accordance with both the spirit and letter of federal and state Civil Rights laws;

Therefore, Be It Resolved that the Rutgers University Senate, representing the Rutgers University community of students, faculty, alumni and administration, calls upon the administration to acknowledge and take action to redress the severe under-representation of the Hispanic/Latino community among junior faculty, tenured senior faculty, and upper- and middle-level administrative personnel; and,

Be It Further Resolved that the Rutgers University Senate calls upon administrators, faculty and staff dealing with issues of student advising and student life to actively address the impact of these issues on the recruitment and retention of undergraduate and graduate students of the Hispanic/Latino community; and,

Be It Further Resolved that, in accordance with these goals, the Rutgers University Senate calls upon the Rutgers administration to immediately develop a five-year strategic plan to recruit and retain Hispanic/Latino administrators, faculty, staff, and students throughout the fabric of the university; and

Be It Further Resolved that as part of this plan, the University should designate an upcoming academic year with the recruitment and retention of Hispanic/Latino faculty members as its primary goal, specifically intended to help integrate this community into all echelons of the university;

Be It Finally Resolved that, in accordance with these policies (and notwithstanding the University’s current financial constraints), a high-level administrator be charged and given the necessary funding and support to supervise the development and implementation of the strategic five-year plan and annually report on progress to the University Senate.
 

Respectfully Submitted by the Equal Opportunity Committee:

DeRosa, Thomas, Rutgers (S), Co-Chair, Executive Committee Liaison
Wadia, Pheroze, NFAS (F), Co-Chair
Barnes, Zowie, Cook (S)
Friedrich, Gustav, SCILS Dean (A) – Administrative Liaison
Hawkesworth, Mary, FAS-NB (F)
Holcomb, Briavel, Livingston (F)
Lehman, Richard, Engineering (F)
Markowitz, Norman, Livingston (F)
Marsh, Margaret, FAS-C Dean (A)
Massenburg, Aminah, CCAS (S)
Redd, Jason, Graduate Student BOT Representative (S) (non-voting Senator)
Schlegel, James, UC-N (F)
Tsurumi, Hiroki, FAS-NB (F)
Walker, Karim, Livingston (S)

The committee would like to thank the following important contributors:

Yanet Baldares – Assistant Instructor, Department of Puerto Rican and Hispanic Caribbean Studies
Manuel Cabrera – Co-Chair, Latino Student Council
Sandra Rocio Castro – Assistant Director, Center for Latino Arts and Culture
Asela Laguna-Diaz - Professor, Classic and Modern Languages, Newark
Jose Laureano – Counselor, Rutgers College EOF Program
Monica Licourt – Administrative Assistant, Department of Puerto Rican and Hispanic Caribbean Studies
Luis Martinez-Fernandez – Chair, Department of Puerto Rican and Hispanic Caribbean Studies
Isabel Nazario – Director, Center for Latino Arts and Culture
Julio Nazario – Assistant Dean of Academic Programs, Livingston College
Mara Ostfeld – Student, Livingston College
Ana Y. Ramos-Zayas - Assistant Professor, Department of Puerto Rican and Hispanic Caribbean Studies/Anthropology
Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes – Assistant Professor, Department of Puerto Rican and Hispanic Caribbean Studies/Anthropology
Lourdes Vasquez – Librarian, Alexander Library

Appendix:

Despite the fact that Hispanics/Latinos have now officially become the United States’ largest minority and in all likelihood have also become New Jersey’s largest minority--over 1.1 million were registered in the state by the 2000 census--there is an appalling dearth of Hispanics/Latinos within the faculty ranks and higher university administration of Rutgers University.

The University has exhibited an extremely poor record in hiring, retaining, and promoting Hispanics/Latinos. According to the latest statistics provided by the University’s Office of Institutional Research and Academic Planning (2002-03), while Hispanics/Latinos constituted 9 percent of our student body and 13.3 percent of New Jersey’s population, they made up only 1.89 percent of Rutgers’s full-time faculty.  The Camden campus, which is located in a city with a considerable Hispanic/Latino population, has only two Hispanics/Latinos in its faculty.  Hispanic/Latino representation among our full-time full professors is even lower (1.2 percent in 2002; only two in Newark). As far as could be ascertained, not a single Hispanic/Latino held any of the many endowed professorships of our University. Out of over one hundred twenty department chairs in all of Rutgers only two are held by a Hispanic/Latino, that of New Brunswick’s Department of Puerto Rican and Hispanic Caribbean Studies and that of Camden’s Psychology Department.  Only 4 of all of the University’s 234 executive administrators (a dismal 1.7 percent) are Hispanics/Latinos.  There is good reason to believe that these already small numbers may actually be inflated given the broad definitions and categories used by the University.

Hispanic/Latino representation in the faculty has slipped dramatically over the past three years and will continue to erode in the near future if immediate action is not taken to reverse the trend. Rutgers has recently lost, and failed to replace, many of its more senior Hispanic/Latino faculty to retirement or resignation: Gabriela Mora, Miguel Algarín, Ed Ortiz, Pedro Cabán, María Canino and Olga Jiménez.  The tragic death of Susana Rotker also left an enormous void.  From 1997-1998 to 2002-2003 the number of full-time Hispanic/Latino faculty in all three campuses fell by more than 18 percent from 60 to 49. When the most recent losses of Hispanic/Latino faculty are considered, the proportion of Hispanics/Latinos in the faculty may have already fallen below 1 percent, a shameful statistic, to say the least.  While budgetary limitations are used to justify not replacing these Hispanic/Latino faculty members, non-minority faculty continue to be hired throughout the university.  Moreover, multiple allegations have surfaced of de facto discrimination against Hispanic/Latino faculty members and Rutgers faces the likely possibility of an exodus of many among its remaining Hispanic/Latino professors.

We cannot provide statistics pertaining to Hispanic/Latino representation in the University’s higher administration because, as outrageous as it may sound, there is not a single Latino/Hispanic in such positions.  There has never been!  We do not have a single Hispanic/Latino as college dean, faculty dean, area dean, and much less serving as vice-president or provost or associate provost. Needless to say, we have never had a Hispanic/Latino president.  Hispanics/Latinos have been systematically excluded from such policy-making positions as those in power have failed to mentor and help advance Hispanics/Latinos to such positions.  In this area Rutgers compares very unfavorably with the University of California and other public universities among the peer group of institutions that Rutgers aspires to be a part of.

The Hispanic, Iberian, Latino Alliance of Rutgers University (HILAR) applauds the Rutgers University Senate’s initiative to further investigate the status of Hispanics and Latinos at the University and to seek redress for their under representation. The Hispanic/Latino community of the University also recognizes president Richard L. McCormick’s extraordinary record of leadership and his commitment to diversity and affirmative action and looks forward to working with his administration to accomplish the long-overdue fair representation of Hispanics and Latinos in all areas of the University community.