Quality and diversity: not one and the same

By David Ross

Several years ago federal agents investigated the hiring policies of Yale's anthropology department. The investigators questioned a professor of mine at the time about the department's recent hires:

"In the past three years, how many positions have been filled by men and how many by women?" "We hired two men and two women."

"The two men that you hired—why weren't you able to find women to fill their spots?"

Attitudes like this are becoming more and more commonplace. Newspapers on campus bemoan the "crisis" caused by lack of diversity among the Yale faculty. The Yale Daily News headline that greeted us on our return from winter break on Thurs., Jan. 14, is my favorite: "Yale nabs two female tenured professors." Though I'm sure the editors meant to title the article "Yale hires two extraordinarily qualified individuals for tenured positions," they somehow neglected to mention the new professors' qualifications—even in the opening paragraphs of the article. It is insulting to objectify our new professors in this manner. Yet such behavior is merely symptomatic of a more fundamental incongruity in our value system: the compromise of academic standards in the name of "diversity."

Yale has earned its reputation as one of the top universities in the country through three centuries of academic superiority. Harold Bloom, GRD '56, Vincent Scully, JE '40, GRD '49, Gaddis Smith, PC '54, GRD '61, and Jonathan Spence, SY '61, GRD '65, are only a few of the brilliant individuals who have not only helped us learn but brought fame and distinction to our school. The opening of a position on the Yale faculty should thrill us with the potential that it holds—who knows what great mind will be next to join these esteemed ranks? How frightening is it that if any of the aforementioned individuals were currently up for tenure, he could easily be passed over in favor of a less qualified but more "diverse" applicant.

I am by no means against the idea of a diverse faculty. On the contrary, I am well aware that the unique backgrounds of faculty members contribute significantly to our educational experience. Nor do I doubt that there are many academics who are both superior in their scholarship and "diverse" in their backgrounds. But above all else I support the doctrine of meritocracy. I refuse to support diversity for diversity's sake. A position on the Yale faculty should be awarded to the most qualified candidate—man or woman, white or black. It is this principle that brought Yale to where it is today, and it is the only way that the University may hope to remain a leading force in American education.

If there is a dearth of qualified minority applicants, then the problem must be addressed earlier in the educational process. Affirmative action at the undergraduate and graduate levels is already increasing the number of potential minority academics. Increasing minority representation at these levels will undoubtedly propel academia into a more diverse future. However, we must also face the fact that there may not currently be enough potential professors to satisfy the demands of both diversity and quality. At all costs, Yale cannot allow itself to compromise its standards.

Critics of the status quo cite the highly skewed gender and ethnic ratios of most Yale departments. Consider, however, that the majority of these individuals are generations older than the diversity debate. Though there is a disproportionate number of white males among tenured faculty today, this stems in large part from the fact that Yale hired almost exclusively from this group in the '60s and '70s. The turnover rate in these positions is extremely slow and cannot be expected to change overnight.

To those frustrated with the homogeneity of the Yale faculty, I recommend patience. There are larger numbers of women and minorities in academic positions now than there were 20 years ago. As our classmates progress in their educations, it will become substantially easier for Yale to make its faculty both qualified and diverse. However, it is imperative that we not rush the process. While we wait for a brighter future, Yale must remain rigidly loyal to its academic standards.

Relentlessly, the feds persisted in their interrogation: "But the two men that you hired. Why weren't you able to find women to fill their spots?"

"Because the men that we hired were the most qualified candidates for the positions."

"But couldn't you have defined a set of minimum qualifications and made it possible to hire women?"

"Look, man, this is Yale. If we hired based on a set of minimum qualifications, we'd be the federal government."

David Ross is a senior in Morse

Back to Opinion...