In this article, the author shares her experience teaching in a predominantly white institution. As an African-American woman, she relates that some students have confronted her in class, typically with a great deal of hostility and a complete lack of respect. Others have gone to department chairs with a barrage of complaints in an attempt to…

Richard Wright's literary career begins with a lynching and ends with a serial murderer. "Big Boy Leaves Home," the 1936 story that leads off Wright's first book, "Uncle Tom's Children" (1938), renders the vicious mob-execution of a young black man falsely accused of rape. "A Father's Law," Wright's last novel, left unfinished at his unexpected…

After generating months of anxiety among both proponents and opponents of public-school integration, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a predictably close 5-4 decision, ruled that the use of race in student-assignment policies by the Seattle and Louisville, Kentucky, school districts violated the rights of the white petitioners whose children were denied…

Nearly 10 years ago, the author wrote an essay for "The Chronicle" on the underrepresentation of Asian-Americans in academic leadership, especially in institutions and disciplines that have a high percentage of students and faculty members of Asian or Pacific Island ancestry. There have been changes over the past 10 years, but not so much for…

This paper discusses a Lawsuit filed against Dow Jones Newspaper Fund and the legal settlement between the defendant and the plaintiff. The fund, a nonprofit organization affiliated with Dow Jones & Company had been operating more than 20 programs for minority high-school students to pursue careers in newspaper journalism. The organization…

Harry Edwards of the University of California at Berkeley has formed an organization to monitor the hiring of black coaches and sports administrators--particularly in intercollegiate athletics. The National Organization on the Status of Minorities in Sports will track vacancies in college athletics and submit names of qualified blacks to fill…

A resurgence of racist incidents in the last few years has caused educators concern about hostility to Blacks on campuses. Some colleges have begun programs to sensitize students, faculty, and administrators to racial issues. (MSE)

Discusses how coaches are charging that proposed changes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's academic eligibility rules discriminate against black players. (EV)

Allegations that colleges discriminate against Asian Americans in undergraduate admissions are discussed in light of record numbers of Asian Americans being admitted to the nation's elite colleges and universities this fall. (MLW)

Membership in the National Academy of Sciences carries great prestige and the chance to advise Congress. This article discusses critics' questioning of why so few female and minority scholars are let in. (EV)

Increasingly, Blacks are recognizing a need to debate civil rights and affirmative action, tolerate diversity of opinion, and acknowledge that there is no single right Black answer. Although Black scholars who oppose racial preference are still in the minority, their views are gaining currency. Some propose unusual solutions. (MSE)

The Supreme Court has ruled that statistical evidence about the effects of an employer's policies can be used to prove discrimination in situations where a variety of imprecise criteria are used. The decision is applicable to faculty salary and tenure disputes. (MSE)

The proliferation of committees studying the question of whether college fraternities should continue to be recognized suggests a move toward the groups' inevitable extinction. If colleges say they do not discriminate, they cannot justify discriminatory actions by recognized campus organizations. (MLW)

A federal appeals court has ruled that the University of Maryland had no right to restrict one of its scholarships to black students. This is the highest level judicial ruling on minority scholarships. The court rejected much of the university's evidence supporting such forms of financial aid. (MSE)

A federal judge has affirmed the legality of a scholarship program for black students at the University of Maryland at College Park, based on evidence of present effects of past discrimination provided by the university itself. (MSE)