Colby Magazine: From the Hill

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In a process worthy of Capitol Hill, a proposal to establish a multicultural affairs committee at Colby got bogged down in committee this fall, endured a veto and was being resuscitated in an altered form in December.

After a call by students last spring for a standing College committee on racial concerns, a debate ensued over whether that committee should be limited to matters of race or should include other aspects of diversity--sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity and gender, for example. In September the 35-member President's Council, the legislative branch of the Student Government Association (SGA), approved the formation of a committee with the broader mandate. Then, when the matter went to the College's Academic Affairs Committee in October, that body voted to include an "interlocking" or interacting committee on race and racism.

The interlocking committee had to go back to the Presidents' Council for approval. Some members felt the additional committee could only help focus attention on race-related problems. Others, including SGA President Ben Humphreys '00, felt a separate committee on race minimized the other issues that a multicultural committee might address. After much debate, the single interlocking committee was passed 17-9 by the Presidents' Council. But Humphreys vetoed it.

The debate crackled across campus and some students accused Humphreys of infringing on the democratic process. Humphreys proposed a system of six interlocking committees to deal with areas where bias and discrimination are potential problems. Interviewed in the Echo and on WMHB, Humphreys defended his veto, saying, "it would be morally reprehensible to not pay equal attention to all acts of discrimination and issues of multiculturalism."

The Presidents' Council bought Humpheys's six-committee plan in November, 17-8. Dissenters included Kenya Sanders '00, the Pugh Center Alliance representative, who was quoted in the Echo: "It's not fair for one person, especially a white heterosexual male, to decide that these committees are going to be created," she said.

Some students doubted the six-committee plan would pass. A compromise plan was in the works, and President Bill Cotter predicted it would prevail. Dean of Faculty Edward Yeterian reminded students that "it takes time to work through policy."

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