Multicultural director's job eliminated

By Bobby Philbrook

Director of the Center for Multicultural Learning Jack Ling will not return for the third year of his contract due to administrative restructuring.

In an e-mail sent to the student body on March 29, Provost Lucia Albino Gilbert announced the creation of a new position for "inclusive excellence" and asked students to nominate senior faculty members. The new position will engulf Ling's current position and leave him out of a job.

"I don't even qualify to apply," said Ling. "They need someone who is tenured and has more clout."

During his two years at Santa Clara, Ling assessed the diversity of the campus and found it pretty narrow. He said his work articulately shows "where we've been, and hopefully the provost's office will work to continue making Santa Clara a more inclusive place."

Besides building up the ethnic studies department with a pair of tenure-track positions and working on diversity issues with students and faculty members, Ling also recommended structural changes to the university's diversity plan.

"In a sense, I worked my way out of a position," said Ling, who holds a Ph.D. in social-clinical psychology from Duquesne University. "I recommended a more centralized position headed up by someone with a lot of clout. Otherwise, positions like mine just come and go," Ling said.

Much of the money for CML and its related endeavours -- like the Summer Bridge Program for first-generation college students -- comes from the James Irvine Foundation.

The grant expires on June 30. The future of CML remains up in the air pending a decision by the provost.

"Some money will come from the provost's office, but the total amount of money may change, as might the names of things," said Ling. "We won't know until the provost introduces her new plan later this spring."

The Dispora Symposium will be the last event funded by the Irving Grant. Ling sees it as a celebration of the foundation's generosity and a way of capping his efforts here. The symposium will bring four speakers to the university to discuss cultural and ethnic migrations. Professor Micere Githae Mugo from Syracuse University will kick off the series on April 24.

Ling is proud of his accomplishments but warns against the temptation to be satisfied with the school's achievements toward diversity. He said true diversity goes beyond just increasing the number of minority students, and the challenge now is to make sure different groups avoid isolation and work to understand each other.

Without a staff and a budget, Ling said he felt slightly hamstrung, but is excited about the future.

"Without a staff, you have to build alliances and work with other departments. That takes time. Hopefully with a tenured faculty in the provost's office, there will be more resources and funding to continue progressing toward a truly inclusive community."

Contact Bobby Philbrook at (408) 554-4546 or rphilbrook@scu.edu.

The story incorrectly stated the name of the grant that funds the Bridge Program. It is the James Irvine Foundation.