From eclay at MIT.EDU Mon Mar 5 21:28:37 2007 From: eclay at MIT.EDU (Elizabeth Clay) Date: Mon, 5 Mar 2007 21:28:37 -0500 Subject: [GSC-Diversity-All] Important GSC Meeting Wednesday! Message-ID: <9AC2B171-5E90-4199-AF9A-5542B7302007@mit.edu> Hi everyone, The time that we have all been working for and waiting for is here- on Wednesday at 5:30pm in the GSC Office (50-220) there will be the vote for making the Diversity Committee permanent. It is the FIRST item on the agenda, so if you can, please come by 5:30 and you can leave afterwards in needed. I hope that you can all be there, your work and support over the last year has gotten us to this point! Also, if you have a moment, send a quick mail to the GSC reps in your department (http://web.mit.edu/gsc/ www/about/reps/gscreps/index.shtml) and let them know how what you think. Thanks and hope to see you Wednesday, Liz From eclay at MIT.EDU Wed Mar 7 14:00:14 2007 From: eclay at MIT.EDU (Elizabeth Margarette Clay) Date: Wed, 07 Mar 2007 14:00:14 -0500 Subject: [GSC-Diversity-All] Urgent- Please Read! DivComm Message-ID: <20070307140014.vohbq563olk4w08o@webmail.mit.edu> I was just sent this by a friend on GSC- This begins to tell the story of how contentious this issue has become. Please join us tonight at 50-220 at 5:30 in solidarity and to voice your opinion if you can. I haven't read the entire piece yet, but the claims I have already seen (that all events were geared toward African-Americans is patently untrue- our most recent event was a multi-cultureal identity dinner that brought together students from all over the country and the world from many backgrounds). I am saddened to see that his is the way the debate has been structured, hiding behind anonymous emails sent at the 11th hour, but there are many people who are afraid of change. Liz ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2007 09:08:51 -0800 (PST) From: Concerned MIT Graduate Students To: thetruth at mit.edu Subject: GSC Diversity Proposal (Points of Information for an Educated Decision) GSC Diversity Proposal: Myths vs. Realities ? so many questions, so few answers You are receiving this note about the proposal to add a Diversity Committee to GSC because of your legislative decision making power on behalf of MIT Students and the need to clarify issues. Agenda of current Committee: The committee over the past year has primarily focused on African American ideas, perhaps because of the two chairs? affiliation with this minority group. African American issues are important, but the current situation raises questions about what the committee?s agenda ought to be and how it should be structured. Could two people represent all factions that entail diversity or do we need a more broad-based structure? The current committee has done no work to find an optimal agenda and solution and has failed to answer these questions. No original idea has been tested ? not even an event (such as multi-ethnic or multi-cultural) that would bring more than one interest group together for discussions. As another example, could this Committee do more to increase campus wide awareness? What about contributions to long-term diversity policy at MIT? Or even a game plan for such a contribution? Should not the committee have a better idea of what it will do and show concrete performance? Performance of current Committee: this ad-hoc committee has failed to address even a single issue on the following: LBGT (sexual orientation), minorities that are non-African American such as Indian American or Chinese American, international students, people from Middle Eastern origin (given today?s politics), disabled students and many others. In fact, only accomplishments current committee has shown is its ability to piggyback on events and ideas that would be executed at MIT with or without the committee. This includes ?co-sponsoring? (historically recurring) dinners and talks with MIT offices; or affixing the GSC logo onto posters for events that are arranged by student groups on their own initiative (such as Caribbean Club) or by MIT departments (such as Urban Studies), which are also isolated to specific groups. Is this all we want a diversity committee to look after, much like ethnicity-based groups? Is the committee prepared for full status or much more work is needed? Is not there more to full committees? And has it been proven that current GSC structure fails to accommodate diversity needs at MIT? Structure of the GSC: Among many other things, the committee has failed to show why it needs to separate itself from the current structure. At no point in time did the committee prove it is constrained as an ad-hoc or sub-committee. The committee seems to receive poster space, GSC monetary and resource/logistical support like all other GSC committees. It has taken several decades for the GSC structure to evolve to what it is where each committee has a clearly defined agenda and neutral leadership to carry it. There are many sub-committees that are the backbone of GSC, and diversity could be one too. When career fair, which is a major portion of GSC revenue, thus its bread and butter; can operate as a sub-committee, why break away from an established structure? No one is implying that diversity is either more or less important than other initiatives. However, the question remains ? why cannot diversity work in parallel with, for example, HCA or even use another year to flesh out its agenda, prove ideas and truly address long-term issues? Conflicts of Interest: We attempt to answer the preceding questions: this current committee and those who show vehement support to it (possibly making others feel biased) are operating under a huge conflict of interest. It ought to be highlighted that MIT administration is a puppeteer that is directing the students charged with diversity, starting with the Administration?s unforeseen support to diversity chairs, particularly Ms. Clay due to her close links with the Chancellor?s office and therefore direct access to all his subordinate Deans, although administration often turns the other cheek to day-to-day student troubles. These troubles include Mental Health and Housing Policies, among others. Moreover, the administration has granted directed and major monetary support to diversity committee student(s) and recognized them, whereas hundreds of more deserving graduate students are turned away and forced to suffer. Why diversity through an unready, under-prepared and rushed GSC committee? Because it would be a trophy achievement for MIT to show the corporation/alumni/donors, whereas the peculiar reality is that MIT is hiding its struggles with attracting and retaining more diverse people (international applicants or diverse faculty). It is clear that the committee in collaboration with Administration this year has pursued very short-term gains, and does not care much about the sustainability or long-term success of this committee. Let not the buzzword of diversity blindfold us from the truth. Do we want a committee with a limited agenda, unproven performance and lack of vision to show outsiders how we think of diversity? Is the Administration and committee rushing while creating and exploiting conflicts of interest unfairly, without a strategic system to addresses long-term issues? Justice and Fairness: Take examples of how GSC feedback/election works: we know representatives are understandably intimidated to give honest critique in public or raise any of the above points. Otherwise, they risk coming across as biased. In fact, the current diversity committee has shown some level of antagonism and weak responses to questions or feedback, which are reacted to with maximal aggression and minimal facts. If the committee has truly proven itself and addresses all issues as it claims, why has not there been any willingness or offer to have a secret ballot, for example? We hope this issue will be raised in public. There are many more points, but let us summarize and leave the rest to your discretion: simply endorsing the current proposal as-is will not address long-term diversity issues. It benefits only a few of the current students involved and their own agendas, and gives MIT administration exactly what it wants without truly addressing diversity. We must realize that the committee has put no system in place for coming years, and as such diversity is bound to fail if endorsed in its currently incomprehensive form. No one argues the need for addressing diversity, the question is: what is the best way? There is only one viable option: extend the amount of time given to the ad-hoc committee to address campus needs without the influence of administration. Please discuss such issues at GCM and be a voice of honesty! Closing Remarks: The authors, who have sent you this information in good faith, request you to respect confidentiality and their choice of anonymity. Similar to you, the authors are also concerned about being misinterpreted or projected as racist, especially by the members of the current diversity committee. The authors support the right of all students/staff/faculty to join in and shine as a part of the MIT community regardless of gender, religion, sexual orientation, origin/ethnicity, nationality, political views, economic status or history and all such aspects that could be considered as different from mainstream society. We deeply appreciate your time and your service to the GSC and MIT. --------------------------------- 8:00? 8:25? 8:40? Find a flick in no time with theYahoo! Search movie showtime shortcut. ----- End forwarded message ----- Master of City Planning Candidate, 2007 Department of Urban Studies and Planning Co-Chair, Diversity Committee, GSC Massachusetts Institute of Technology 617.699.1514 (Mobile) From eclay at MIT.EDU Thu Mar 8 15:10:19 2007 From: eclay at MIT.EDU (Elizabeth Margarette Clay) Date: Thu, 08 Mar 2007 15:10:19 -0500 Subject: [GSC-Diversity-All] DivComm outcome and Racial Climate Discussion TODAY! Message-ID: <20070308151019.xsh83si6b484gggg@webmail.mit.edu> Dear DivComm, For those of you not present yesterday at the GCM, we did not get the sufficient 43 votes to be a standing committee. It was a long and tough meeting, that we will all talk about sometime soon- but Brian and Francis did a great job and this will not be the last of our efforts. Just wanted to plug this event tonight- I can't be there- but it looks good. Liz ----- Forwarded message from aliac at MIT.EDU ----- Date: Thu, 8 Mar 2007 13:46:58 -0500 From: Alia Carter Reply-To: Alia Carter Subject: Racial Climate at MIT Discussion TODAY! To: bgsa at mit.edu, nsbe at mit.edu *Today's Forecast - Sunny with a Bit of Racism: * *A Look at the Racial Climate at MIT* *SPONSORED BY THE BLACK STUDENTS' UNION, BLACK WOMEN'S ALLIANCE, CARIBBEAN CLUB, **CHOCOLATE CITY,* * LA UNION CHICANA POR AZTLAN, LGBT at MIT, NATIONAL SOCIETY OF BLACK ENGINEERS, SOCIETY OF HISPANIC PROFESSIONALS AND ENGINEERS.* *WHAT: *A discussion of the current racial climate on campus - All are welcome. In light of recent events on campus inlcuding the Professor Sherley Hunger Strike and the vandalizing of the MLK 2007 Installation, we cannot ignore the implications of racism on campus. As minority students or anyone dedicated to equality on campus, we need to address these implications and raise awareness within MIT's community that this behavior and mindset will not be tolerated. *WHEN: *Thursday, March 8, 2007, 7pm *WHERE: *The Black Students' Union Lounge, Walker Memorial (50-105) Dinner will be provided. -- Alia M. Carter Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Biology Department of Chemical Engineering Class of 2007 aliac at mit.edu -- Alia M. Carter Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Biology Department of Chemical Engineering Class of 2007 aliac at mit.edu ----- End forwarded message ----- Master of City Planning Candidate, 2007 Department of Urban Studies and Planning Co-Chair, Diversity Committee, GSC Massachusetts Institute of Technology 617.699.1514 (Mobile) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mailman.mit.edu/pipermail/gsc-diversity-all/attachments/20070308/54dcf745/attachment.htm From eclay at MIT.EDU Sun Mar 18 07:51:35 2007 From: eclay at MIT.EDU (Elizabeth Margarette Clay) Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2007 07:51:35 -0400 Subject: [GSC-Diversity-All] Meeting to discuss future of Diversity Committee Message-ID: <20070318075135.1w698dzglcjoow84@webmail.mit.edu> Hi Everyone, After a busy couple of weeks, I thought we needed a brief break from committee work. However, after discussions with some of you I think it is time to regroup and talk about next steps. We'll meet Tuesday, March 27th at 6:30, please RSVP to let me know if it works for you. If it doesn't, please identify another evening that does. I hope that everyone can be there! Liz Master of City Planning Candidate, 2007 Department of Urban Studies and Planning Co-Chair, Diversity Committee, GSC Massachusetts Institute of Technology 617.699.1514 (Mobile) From eclay at MIT.EDU Mon Mar 26 18:33:31 2007 From: eclay at MIT.EDU (Elizabeth Margarette Clay) Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2007 18:33:31 -0400 Subject: [GSC-Diversity-All] Diversity Committee meeting postponed Message-ID: <20070326183331.mxkx2hvcq6rk4sgw@webmail.mit.edu> Hi everyone, I was unaware it was Spring Break when I initially scheduled the meeting. Since I haven't heard back from many of you, I'm going to guess that is why. Let's postpone the meeting to next Tuesday at 6:30. Please write me back asap to let me know if you can come- I will order dinner. The most important agenda item is- What is the future of the GSC Diversity Committee? Please come and share your ideas. Though our initiative did not pass, we have received positive reponse from people across campus, there is still desire four our efforts. Lets have a really productive and honest chat next Tuesday evening. Thanks! Liz Master of City Planning Candidate, 2007 Department of Urban Studies and Planning Co-Chair, Diversity Committee, GSC Massachusetts Institute of Technology 617.699.1514 (Mobile)