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The Diversity Myth

Page 37

by David O Sacks


  9. Peter Robison, “Casper shrinks Stanford administration; Total number of top University bureaucrats reduced as first move,” The Stanford Daily, September 28, 1992. Confronted with drastic budget shortfalls, the incoming president suggested that a comprehensive response to the cost crisis might require some deep cuts in the size of the administration. Calling today's universities “mini–welfare states,” because of the size of their administrations and the many services they offer, Casper explained that there must be a point at which a university says “this is a service we are no longer willing to supply.” The president even suggested that the elimination of tenure is “something we may have to consider in the long run.” Peter Robison, “Casper finds improving Stanford image a slow, difficult process,” The Stanford Daily, February 26, 1993. John Ford and Martha Brockenbrough, “Casper takes a hard look at tuition, financial aid,” The Stanford Daily, April 21, 1992. Peter Robison, “Casper makes first dorm visit; After-dinner chat on money, PC,” The Stanford Daily, April 22, 1992. Barbara Koh, “Stanford tuition will go up 5%; Total costs expected to exceed $25,000,” The San Jose Mercury News, February 9, 1994.

  10. George de Lama, “Diversity of Stanford tests former UC provost,” The Chicago Tribune, December 6, 1992.

  11. Robison, “Casper shrinks,” supra note 9.

  12. Rajiv Chandrasekaran, “Casper to eliminate the Office of Public Affairs,” The Stanford Daily, February 23, 1994.

  13. Ibid. In March 1994, Casper also eliminated the position of secretary to the Board of Trustees and a handful of gratuitous administrative positions in the president's office. See Rajiv Chandrasekaran, “Budget cuts to trim staff in Building 10; Casper eliminated secretary to the trustees,” The Stanford Daily, March 9, 1994.

  14. David Margolick, “Stanford Brings Back the F and Toughens Rules on Course Selection,” The New York Times, June 4, 1994.

  15. Karen Bartholomew, “Casper announces creation of Commission on Undergraduate Education,” Stanford University News Service, May 5, 1993. Skip Schwartz, “Casper plans review of undergrad studies; Speech questions DR system, four-year-degree,” The Stanford Daily, April 30, 1993.

  16. Gerhard Casper, “Charge to the Commission on Undergraduate Education,” Stanford University News Service, November 19, 1993.

  17. Koh, supra note 5.

  18. Barbara Kantrowitz, “The Calm After the Storm; For president, Stanford picks a hot commodity,” Newsweek, March 30, 1992.

  19. “Changes For Hoover, Stanford,” The San Francisco Chronicle, May 28, 1993.

  20. Peter Robison, “Casper defends free speech; No ‘Casper doctrine’ outlining political endorsements,” The Stanford Daily, October 29, 1992.

  21. George Ely, “Casper gives Stanford seal a facelift,” The Stanford Review, November 23, 1992. In his speech, Casper announced: “A university's freedom must be the freedom to challenge new orthodoxy. Just as traditions should not be embraced merely because they are traditions, the newest intellectual fashions should not rule just because they are new…. A university's freedom must be the freedom of its members, faculty and students to think and speak for themselves. A university must not have dominant ways of thinking. No university can thrive unless each member is accepted as an autonomous individual and can speak and will be listened to without regard to labels and stereotypes.” See Gerhard Casper, “A university's freedom should be the freedom to seek and to know,” The Chicago Tribune, November 20, 1992.

  22. Peter Robison, “Casper vows to keep personality public, politics private,” The Stanford Daily, October 7, 1992.

  23. Ibid. A registered Democrat who is pro-choice on the abortion issue, Casper nonetheless explained that if he were approached by a group buying an advertisement in the New York Times to support Bill Clinton, he would not sign his name to it: “I would not possibly do such a thing, nor would I do it for Clinton's opponent.” He added, “This has nothing to do with whatever the views of the trustees might be, but reflects longstanding views of my own.” Casper's comments were particularly poignant. The previous May, 700 faculty and staff members had signed a full-page advertisement in The New York Times in response to the Rodney King verdict and subsequent civil disorder. The strongly worded ad condemned “pervasive racism, the abandonment of our cities, the heartless misallocation of federal and state funds, and the politics of deprivation.” It urged “all citizens to vote for candidates committed to using our nation's abundant resources in the service of justice and equality.” English professor Albert Gelpi explained that the signatories wanted to “take a position that was public and collective rather than private and personal.” In response to Casper's admonitions, Professor Gelpi warned: “I think that if there were a real attempt to keep faculty from expressing their political views there would be strong resistance.” See also Robison, supra note 20.

  24. Lisa Koven, “Stanford University's Ninth President: Gerhard Casper,” The Stanford Review, January 4, 1993.

  25. Miranda Doyle, “Out of the loop, students fear ‘conservative agenda,’” The Stanford Daily, February 25, 1994.

  26 Andy Dworkin, “No cuts for student centers: Student Affairs will trim $1 million next year; budget knife spares ethnic centers, other groups,” The Stanford Daily, April 8, 1994.

  27. Mike McDevitt, “Same-sex partners of Stanford staff and faculty also will get benefits,” The Peninsula Times Tribune, December 9, 1992. Bill Workman, “Stanford Faculty Backs Domestic Partners Plan,” The San Francisco Chronicle, October 30, 1992. Barbara Koh, “Stanford OKs gay partner benefits,” The San Jose Mercury News, December 9, 1992.

  28. William Honan, “At the Top of the Ivory Tower the Watchword Is Silence,” The New York Times, July 24, 1994.

  29. Michael Slemmer, “Casper defends University policies at ASSU meeting,” The Stanford Daily, April 28, 1993.

  30. Bill Workman, “Chief Says Stanford Isn't for Separatism; Congregating doesn't mean ‘segregating,’” The San Francisco Chronicle, September 24, 1993.

  31. Bill Workman, “Stanford Renews Commitment to Diversity; President wants campus of ‘interactive pluralism,’” The San Francisco Chronicle, September 23, 1993.

  32. Karen Bartholomew, “Commission preview: new introductory courses; no formal 3-year degree,” Stanford University News Service, June 14, 1994.

  33. Sarah Katz, “Its info gathered, CUE poised to hash out final report,” The Stanford Daily, June 1, 1994.

  34. Bartholomew, supra note 32.

  35. Katz, supra note 33.

  36. Romesh Ratnesar and Skip Schwartz, “Under the looking glass: Faculty, students critique CIV program,” The Stanford Daily, December 8, 1993.

  37. Bartholomew, supra note 32.

  38. Sarah Katz, “Students rap about CIV, DRs,” The Stanford Daily, February 25, 1994.

  39. Ibid.

  40. Andy Dworkin, “Casper: politics and academia don't mix,” The Stanford Daily, May 13, 1994.

  41. Barbara Koh, “Stanford's president defends his record on multiculturalism,” The San Jose Mercury News, May 28, 1993.

  42. Romesh Ratnesar, “Multicultural office narrows focus,” The Stanford Daily, September 23, 1993.

  43. Louis Freedberg, “Stanford Weathers Storm of Scandal,” The San Francisco Chronicle, February 2, 1993.

  44. Lisa Lapin, “Incoming Stanford chief sees a chance to rebuild,” The Sacramento Bee, March 30, 1992.

  45. Kantrowitz, supra note 18.

  46. Robison, “Casper finds,” supra note 9.

  47. Colleen Krueger, “Asian-American Studies protest disrupts Fac Sen; Students want major created,” The Stanford Daily, May 13, 1994.

  48. Nick Kuritzky, “‘Asian-American studies now’; 70 protest lack of autonomous major, march to Casper's office,” The Stanford Daily, April 20, 1993.

  49. Krueger, supra note 47.

  50. Doyle, supra note 25.

  51. Jim Luh, “When voters say no,” The Stanford Daily, April 18, 1994.

  52. Doyle, supra note 2
5.

  53. Ibid.

  54. In addition, BSU Chairman Ekanem criticized the fact that the ethnic centers were primarily dealing with three black administrators—Provost Condoleezza Rice, Vice Provost Mary Edmonds, and Dean of Students Michael Jackson. “If it wasn't planned, it's a darned good way of going about business,” said Ekanem. Apparently, some black administrators were less equal than others. Casper was nonplussed: “I have in the past and I continue to break glass ceilings—when that happens, for that to be turned around as an argument against me I find just incredibly offensive.” Casper also noted that Edmonds and Jackson had been appointed by Donald Kennedy, whose record can by no means be called unsympathetic to multiculturalism (see chapter 2). Ibid.

  55. James J. Sheehan, et al., “Report of the Commission on Undergraduate Education,” Stanford University, 1994.

  56. Louis Freedberg and Bill Workman, “Stanford Chief Questions Value of School Major,” The San Francisco Chronicle, September 23, 1993. Louis Freedberg, “Stanford President Challenges Sanctity of 4-Year Degree,” The San Francisco Chronicle, January 26, 1993.

  57. Freedberg, supra note 56.

  58. Sommer, John W., ed. The Academy in Crisis: The Political Economy of Higher Education (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1995). See also page viii.

  59. “A Case for Iced Coffee,” The Wall Street Journal, August 26, 1994.

  60. Linda Deutsch, “Another Menendez Mistrial; Elder Brother's Jury Also Can't Reach Verdict,” The Record, January 29, 1994.

  61. Brian Lowry, “Changing Channels; Television promotes culture of victimization,” Daily Variety, February 2, 1994.

  62. Jane Gross, “Second Wave of AIDS Feared By Officials in San Francisco,” The New York Times, December 11, 1993.

  63. Ibid.

  64. Ibid.

  65. Leon Jaroff, “Teaching Reverse Racism,” Time, April 4, 1994.

  66. Ibid.

  67. Ibid.

  68. Eloise Salholz, “Paying for Sins of the Past; Blacks debate the issue of reparations for slavery,” Newsweek, May 22, 1989.

  69. Ibid.

  70. Ruth Bond, “Hundreds of Years in Arrears,” Washington City Paper, May 24, 1991.

  71. Ruth Larsen, “FAA men charge ‘Tailhook II,’” The Washington Times, September 8, 1994. See also Megan Garvey, “Male FAA Worker Sues, Alleging Female ‘Gantlet’ Demeaned Him,” The Washington Post, September 9, 1994.

  72. Ibid.

  73. Barbara Ehrenreich, “Feminism Confronts Bobbittry,” Time, January 24, 1994.

  74. Ibid.

  75. Ibid.

  76. Ibid.

  77. John Leo, “The junking of history,” U.S. News and World Report, February 28, 1994.

  78. Ibid.

  79. Bob Woodward, The Agenda (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994).

  80. Ibid.

  * * *

  * This problem is somewhat analogous to the status of the Communist Party in the aftermath of the Leninist revolution. If that revolution truly emancipated the proletariat, then why would there still be a need for a proletarian vanguard? The solution of the Marxist-Leninist regime was to distinguish between a Communist end-state and an intermediate Socialist state, and to use the latter to justify the indefinite deferral of the former.

  About the Authors

  DAVID O. SACKS is a research fellow at The Independent Institute and a consultant at McKinsey & Company. He has worked as a legislative aide for U.S. Representative Christopher Cox and as a research assistant for judges Richard A. Posner and Robert H. Bork. During his time in Washington, National Journal identified Mr. Sacks as one of Capitol Hill's “rising stars.” He received his A.B. in economics from Stanford University, where he served as editor-in-chief of the weekly, The Stanford Review, and Campus, a national magazine. Subsequently, he earned his J.D. from the University of Chicago, where he was an Olin Fellow in Law and Economics and a member of the Law Review. He has appeared on PBS's Firing Line, regularly comments on the news for C-SPAN, and writes articles for The Wall Street Journal, as well as numerous other newspapers and public policy magazines.

  PETER A. THIEL is a research fellow at the Independent Institute and heads up Thiel Capital International, LLC, a hedge fund based in Palo Alto, California. He received his A.B. in philosophy (1989) and J.D. (1992) from Stanford University, where he also was the founding editor of The Stanford Review. Mr. Thiel has written for The Wall Street Journal, and is a regular commentator on the PBS program “Debates Debates” and the C-SPAN show “Washington Journal.”

  Index

  Abelove, Henry, 66

  Academic populism, 13, 17

  Academy in Crisis: The Political Economy of Higher Education, The, 229

  ACT-UP, 66

  Adams, James, 131–32

  “Affirmation” sessions, 57–58

  African-American Baseline Essays, 233

  African Americans

  as discriminated minority, 72

  reparations for, 233–34

  See also Blacks

  African American Studies, 68, 201

  “African American Vernacular English” (Linguistics 73), 68–69

  Afrocentrism, 232–33, 239

  Agenda, The (Woodward), 238

  AGEUS, 106

  Aguas, Chris: Anthro 1 and, 63

  AIDS

  deaths from, 104, 120–21n61

  die-ins, 146

  AIDS Education Project, “Safer Sex Shoppe” and, 102–3

  Akiyama, Diana, 100

  Allan, Laura: on institutional racism, 142

  Allen, Jason: marriage of, 99–100

  Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity, 169

  Alumni, multicultural revolution and, 207–8

  Alvarado, Tamara, 144

  Group Comm and, 58–59

  Ambrogi, Thomas, 105

  “American Counterculture Literature,” dialogue tutorials in, 65–66

  “American Drinking and Drug Culture, The” (Psychology 174), 56

  American Indians, as discriminated minority, 72

  American Indian Summer Institute Program, 73

  Anku, Kwame: on racism, 136–37

  Apostolides, Jean-Marie: on Cohn, 176–77

  Archuleta, Keith: arrest of, 210–11

  Armenta, Arturo, 108

  Asian American New Student Orientation Committee, 131

  Asian Americans, as discriminated minority, 72, 226

  Asian American Student Association, 132, 158n13

  Asian-American Studies, 68, 226

  Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU)

  institutional racism and, 142

  multiculturalism and, 29

  As You Like It (Shakespeare), lesbianism in, 65

  Bacchetti, Raymond, 116

  Baez, Joan, 97

  Ballet Folklorico, 132

  Bannasch, Eric, 86n14

  Bao, Daniel, 103, 160n63

  on AIDS deaths, 121n61

  Bar, Jessica: on sexism, 108

  Bathroom sex, 101–2, 153

  Battaglia, Laura, 95

  Beethoven incident, 41–45, 138, 164, 165, 168

  Before Columbus Foundation, prize from, 76

  Bennett, William, 179, 194n43, 195n44

  Bernstein, Barton, 225

  Beta Theta Pi fraternity, 147

  Beyers, Bob, 218n69

  News Service and, 207–8

  Bianco, David: on homosexual sex, 101–2

  Bible, 4

  rejection of, 190

  Bible studies, 177, 194n38

  Biddle, Paul, 205

  audit by, 199–202, 203

  ONR and, 200

  Big Game rally, 31, 176

  “Black Hair as Culture and History,” 59, 85n2, 132

  Casper and, 223

  race consciousness of, 52–53

  syllabus for, 51–52

  Black Recruitment and Orientation Committee, 131

  Blacks

  conservative, 182

  uppercase/lowercase, 135,
136

  See also African Americans

  Black Student Union (BSU), 48n34, 108, 132, 134, 139–40, 158n13

  blacklist of, 182–83

  Carter and, 177

  fee requests for, 227

  protest by, 14

  Bland, Byron, 177

  on feminists, 60

  Bliss, Rebecca, 156

  on sexism, 153–54

  Block, Steven, 121n61

  Bloom, Allan: on Stanford trendiness, 93

  Board of Trustees, 249n13

  financial scandal and, xx, 203, 204

  Kennedy and, 204–5, 206

  multiculturalism and, 25

  retreat for, 198

  Bobbitt, Lorena and John Wayne, 236, 237

  Borges, Jorge Luis: library of, 229

  Boston, Foxy, 69

  Branner Dorm, 97, 98

  Brawley, Tawana, 237

  Brest, Paul: flyers incident and, 178–79

  Bridge (counseling center), 105

  conference by, 104

  Bryson, Jennifer: College Republicans and, 195n44

  BSU. See Black Student Union

  Bunzel, John, 143

  on racism, 140–41

  Burciaga, Cecilia, 96

  on racism, 137

  Burning Plain, The (Rulfo), 6

  Burns, Stewart, 60, 64

  Bush, George, 37, 95, 176

  C-AAA. See Committee on Academic Appraisal and Achievement

  Cabinet, multiculturalism and, 25

  Caliban

  liberation of, 11–12, 190, 214, 232

  revolt of, 213, 231

  Campus Report, on Potter House, 97

  Canons, debate over, 5, 17

  “Capitalism and Gay Identity” (D'Emilio), 66

  “Car Buyer Bill of Rights,” 7, 84

  “Cardinal and White Night,” racism and, 176

  Career Service Office (CSO), military recruiters and, 178–79

  Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 38

  Carson, Clay: theme dorms and, 97

  Carstenson, Laura, 81, 91n112

  Carter, Stephen

  BSU and, 177

  criticism of, 182, 227

  on political consciousness, 32

  Carville, James, 238

  Casa Zapata, 27, 132, 153

  ethnic separatism at, 144

 

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