CHARGE
This Committee's charge was written by MIT President Charles M. Vest in February 1994 and has guided its programs and goals ever since. CRD is charged with fostering better relations among the races of people at MIT and helping the community realize the benefits of its cultural and racial diversity. In carrying out this charge, the committee was asked to assume these responsibilities:
- Stimulate and coordinate a systematic action agenda for improving race relations within the MIT community, including programs, events, and activities that foster appreciation of the many races and cultures at MIT (inside and outside the classroom), and/or that are designed to help eliminate bigotry or prejudice on campus.
- Develop, maintain, and promote a monthly calendar of campus activities and events directly involving or relating to issues of race relations, and serve as a clearinghouse of information on such activities.
- Develop and distribute a resource guide containing information on various services, programs, individuals and organizations that can be of help in promoting positive race relations for the MIT campus.
- Administer a modest grants program to support projects and activities that promote multicultural understanding and positive race relations within the MIT community. The committee should publicize the availability of the grants each fall, receive and review proposals, and make awards. Primary emphasis will be on activities proposed by students or student groups. However, any member or group within the MIT community (students, faculty, and staff) is eligible to receive such grants, although these funds should not be seen as a substitute for expenditures that departments would ordinarily be making.
Members of the committee are appointed by the president from among the faculty, students, staff of MIT and include people with different racial and cultural backgrounds. The committee does not attempt to reflect the full diversity of the MIT population in its membership, works with the various racial and ethnic groups to develop an overview of issues and concerns, as well as opportunities for promoting better relations on campus.
A Statement by MIT President Charles Vest
MIT has always been deeply engaged with the issues and the institutions
of the broader society—as reflected in our academic programs, in our
research, and in those who come here to learn and to teach. This has been a
distinguishing characteristic of this place and at times a source of
tension, particularly during periods of rapid change in our society. In
some ways, MIT is a microcosm that contains and reflects all the strains of
the larger culture. But it is more than that, because we not only mirror
the present, we have a hand in shaping the future.
The quality of that future will have as much to do with human relations as it does with scientific and technological innovations, if not more. We are very good at incorporating new ideas and new knowledge into our professional and scholarly lives. We must become equally adept at incorporating cultural and demographic change into our life as an academic community.
Today, everyone can expect to live and work in a world filled with people of different cultures, races, and nationalities. Indeed, we already live in such a world right here on campus, but we have much to do if we are to take true advantage of the rich variety of cultures and experiences we bring to this place. Too often, we spend time with people who are more like us than not, and are hesitant to learn from our differences. Too often, this ignorance leads to isolation and insult. None of us should be satisfied with this state of affairs. I believe we each have an obligation to help make MIT a living and learning community marked by mutual respect and collegiality.
There are many things we are doing on this campus to try to make MIT a true learning community—including a variety of programs to attract and engage more minority faculty and students in the life of MIT. Beyond these recruiting and mentoring programs, the Committee on Campus Race Relations, formed in 1994, has done a great deal to help build coalitions among individuals and groups interested in creating a more harmonious campus environment. The Committee has established a grants program, which funds lectures, arts activities, cultural and ethnic events, dorm-based activities, workshops and conferences, and undergraduate seminars—all with the aim of enhancing race relations on campus.
A Statement for CCRR Chair, Thomas A. Kochan
CCRR: Past, Present, and Future
A sense of mutual responsibility and commitment has guided the work of the Committee on Campus Race Relations (CCRR) since its formation in 1994. CCRR has stimulated rich discussions on the state of race relations by sponsoring nearly 100 community meetings and student-initiated programs. Through its RACE2000! programs, Blacks, Whites, Asians, and Hispanics have come together to discuss what it means to be a member of one (or more) of these groups on campus. Many of these sessions have drawn on the well-known It's Intuitively Obvious video series describing MIT students' experiences with race on campus. Consistent with Institute culture, the emphasis has been on decentralized, local experiments and events rather than a large, centralized educational program or effort. The Guide supports this decentralized approach by serving as a catalog of courses, activities, and other resources available on campus that promote multicultural understanding and positive race relations.
CCRR is a unique committee. Its members are a cross-section of the full MIT community—students, staff, faculty, and administrators. We mirror the cultural and racial diversity found on campus and seek to be a catalyst for discussion, dialogue, learning, and action. We are now ready to enter a new, challenging phase aimed at the latter two goals—promoting learning and action.
The Committee has done an excellent job of raising awareness of race relations on campus and sensitizing community members to the value of diversity. This is a necessary first step to improving race relations, but it is not sufficient. To realize the goal of improving relations, we must also build the skills and capabilities needed to translate diversity into positive results for each of us as individuals, and for the groups, teams, and organizations in which we learn and work.
We are not alone in seeing this as the key challenge before us today. Industry leaders recognize that capitalizing on the diversity in their workforce and customer base is critical to business success and social cohesion in today's global marketplace. So, taking on this task is an important part of our educational responsibility—to provide students with the knowledge and skills needed to contribute successfully in the labor markets they will be entering and careers they are about to begin.
The research evidence on this topic tells us that this is no easy task. Diversity does not automatically produce positive results. Considerable evidence demonstrates that groups that are managed in ways that draw out and build on the diverse knowledge and experiences of their members, and manage their group dynamics effectively, produce creative results and satisfaction among their members. But, if the diverse knowledge and experiences that different people bring to problems are left untapped, these groups will miss discovering creative and innovative solutions and, instead, will produce frustration and turnover. Or worse, diverse views, styles of thinking and behavior or perceptions of one another that are not surfaced in a constructive fashion often will erupt in highly emotional and unproductive conflicts, thus deepening stereotypes and prejudice. Our challenge, therefore, is to develop the personal skills and institutional capacities needed to use our diversity to support creative and productive interactions, which produce positive rather than negative results and personal experiences.
CCRR will focus much of its energy on meeting this challenge. Consistent with the MIT culture, the Committee will do so by drawing heavily on the research and innovative teaching materials developed by MIT community members. By drawing on these resources, we hope to model how a university community can learn and work together and provide its members with the skills needed to be creative and effective in a multicultural society. This is our shared responsibility and commitment for the future.
Summer 2000