The Educational Effectiveness of Historically Black Colleges and ...

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Commissioner Statements 157 Americans across the board, as some enthusiasts claim. But they do seem to meet a real need, serving their students well in important respects. In a free society, many private and public institutions will have a distinctive demographic profile. Group clustering is not necessarily unhealthy; indeed, it's an inescapable feature of a multiethnic nation. No one worries that there are "too many" Jews at Yeshiva and Brandeis, "too many" Catholics at Notre Dame and Holy Cross, "too many" Mormons at Brigham Young. And so it should be with Howard, Fisk and Mississippi Valley State. That's what democratic pluralism means. This comment rests heavily on an op-ed of mine, co-authored with Stephan Thernstrom. “Separation Anxiety,” The Wall Street Journal, November 30, 2007, W13. Dissent of Commissioners Michael Yaki and Arlan D. Melendez As has been necessary for us to do with regard to other recent Briefing Hearing Reports approved and issued by the Commission’s conservative majority, we are compelled to voice objection to the manner in which this Report was prepared. Further, we are able to support neither its content nor any of its Findings and Recommendations. This Report is shamefully tardy. The Briefing Hearing about which it seeks to illuminate the concerned public took place in May, 2006, over four full years prior to the majority’s final approval of its Findings and Recommendations. The delay was interposed by Commissioners who wished, for reasons related to their own political purposes, to marry this Report to the Commission’s Briefing Hearing Report entitled “Encouraging Minority Students to Pursue Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Careers” which is being published simultaneously with this Report. There is no valid reason that this HBCU Report could not have been published during the more than two full years between the Briefing Hearing upon which it is predicated and the STEM Briefing Hearing held in 2008. Further, parts of this Report’s conclusions rest upon stale data, some of which was introduced into the record long after the Briefing Hearing and was over a decade old at the time of its initial consideration. This data is now almost 15 years old, 269 nearly the same age as today’s students whose post-secondary educational opportunities the majority wishes to impact via its “advice” in Recommendation #1. We are further concerned that Finding #6 and Recommendation #1 are included merely to trumpet the notion that African-American students may suffer unduly due to “mismatch” between their academic abilities and the willingness of highly selective and competitive schools to admit them. This theory was not discussed at the Briefing Hearing, but rather was grafted onto the Report thanks to an extraordinary reopening of the record. 269 Elliot, Rogers; Strenta, A. Christopher; Adair, Russell; Matier, Michael; and Scott, Jannah, “The Role of Ethnicity in Choosing and Leaving Science in Highly Selective Institutions,” Research in Higher Education, Vol. 37, No. 6 (1996), pp. 681-709.
158 The Educational Effectiveness of Historically Black Colleges and Universities Rebuttal By Commissioner Gail Heriot August 26, 2010 Commissioners Yaki and Melendez call this report “shamefully tardy.” “Shamefully” is a strong word. Although I would much prefer to curl up with a good book and a nice cup of tea this evening, it would be imprudent to let such an accusation go unanswered. It was for good reason that this report was placed in the queue behind some of our other work. Chairman Reynolds, who unquestionably has both the authority and duty to set the agenda, made the judgment that it would get more readers and hence be more effective if it were revamped and released at the same time as our report entitled “Encouraging Minority Students to Pursue Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Careers.” I understand that these two reports will indeed be published on the same day. That decision is not just something I support. I suggested it (or, more precisely, I suggested something similar to the course of action the Chairman ultimately took and happily supported his alternative course). Revamping a draft report that otherwise could not have garnered majority support and releasing it in conjunction with a related report is not just appropriate conduct. It would have been inappropriate to issue the report in the condition that it came to us from the Commission staff. And it would have been inappropriate to be indifferent to the increased readership the report could have if released in conjunction with a related report. The Chairman’s decision in no way prevented the Commission from accomplishing its business; it simply changed the order of that business. 270 270 In contrast, Commissioner Yaki’s practice of walking out of meetings when doing so will defeat a quorum has indeed prevented the Commission from accomplishing its business on many occasions. As Commissioner Yaki once put it, “if you can’t get your gang of five together, that’s not my problem.” See, e.g., Commission Business Meeting of September 11, 2009 (quorum defeated by Commissioner Yaki); Commission Business Meeting of July 11, 2008 (quorum defeated by Commissioner Yaki), Commission Business Meeting of August 16, 2006 (quorum defeated by Commissioner Yaki); Commission Telephone Meeting of October 30, 2009(quorum defeated by Commissioner Yaki); Commission Telephone Meeting of October 24, 2009 (quorum defeated by Commissioner Yaki). Commissioner Melendez has sometimes joined him in this behavior. The quoted statement was from the Commission Telephone Meeting of October 30, 2009. At that conference, Commission Yaki suddenly announced “Commissioner Yaki is leaving the conference” directly after Commissioner Taylor was called away to attend to his legal practice. Tr. at 37. The remaining four commissioners remained on the line for an informational meeting on one of its projects for a few minutes, but were unable to take any votes, given the lack of a quorum. After the discussion ended and the court reporter retired, Commissioner Yaki mysteriously re-appeared on the call and, mistakenly believing the other commissioners had left the call, began to speak to staff members. It was likely that he had never hung up, since the tone that sounds when someone enters a call had never sounded. When asked about his conduct, he became irate. His remarks were recorded by a special assistant shortly after hearing them. On November 11, 2009, he made similar statements on the record, declaring that “should you [i.e. Chairman Reynolds] choose to move forward with your agenda, which I disagree with, I presume that you will have the foresight to ensure that the five members of your coalition are present in order to effectuate that vote.” “I will not be a party,” he said, “to contributing to your ability to get things done.” Transcript 8-9. And indeed he has not been. On other occasions, Commissioner Yaki has mysteriously joined commission telephone meetings only after it has become apparent that the Commission has a quorum. See, e.g.,
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Executive Summary 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMA
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