Hey, there! Log in / Register
Crisis averted: BU president agrees to chat with city councilors
By adamg on Tue, 12/02/2014 - 7:26am
The Daily Free Press reports BU President Robert Brown and the City Council have reached an agreement under which Brown will discuss the diversity of his school's workforce at a hearing on Dec. 19.
The council had subpoenaed Brown - under threat of arrest - to appear at a hearing this afternoon; BU responded with a lawsuit against the city. But Brown and Councilor Tito Jackson reached agreement on the Dec. 19 date, so Brown doesn't have to worry about shackles and BU has withdrawn its lawsuit.
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Read the testimony of City Councilors.
Important ! Read the testimony of City Councilors from the Stenograph Record at the most recent Public Meeting of Boston City Council.
a link would be nice
cuz I'll bet those remarks are interesting
and what date are we talking about?
thanks
Stenograph Records of most recent Public Meeting of City Council
Stenograph Records of the most recent Public Meetings of Boston City Council can be requested
at
http://www.cityofboston.gov/contact/?id=12
City Council priorities?
Jackson quoted:
“It’s absolutely critical that the institution that conferred the doctorate of Martin Luther King Jr. as its alumni, discuss its record about diversity from every level — from the highest level of administration, faculty and staff and students [on] procurement and practice as one of the largest universities in Boston,” he said. “It’s important to have open discussion.”
And they plan on doing this with every college and university in town? That will keep them busy, maybe even full-time busy. It won't improve diversity at BU or anywhere else, but that obviously isn't the point.
Instead of this useless exercise, may I suggest an open discussion on the proposed Olympics?
Mindless
Perhaps Tito Jackson didn't notice but Universities have had pressure on them for decades to become as diverse as possible. He can only wish that most large private employers put so much focus on a diverse workforce and student population.
Already BU is something like 20% international students. A majority of students are on some type of need based aid. The faculty is about as diverse as any major University. (Diverse means mix of demographics, not high percentage of one demographic group.) But if Tito Jackson cared he can look all this stuff up; these sorts of numbers are frequently published.
Tito should just cut the shit and explain the extortion deal directly: If the Boston universities agree to hire the people he tells them he'll stop being a nuisance. What Jackson is doing is pretty similar to what the Union bosses went to jail for a few weeks ago. It's extortion and grandstanding, not fact finding.
EDIT: In an effort to help Tito I've found some links that might help him:
BU's Diversity Program's Page
BU Diversity Stats
Northeastern University Stats
BPS should be the main focus not BU!
There are enough problems with BPS and their staff to keep Tito busy full time (this is the largest issue facing Boston)! Once BPS can be fixed maybe they can look at BU. I was at a Fairmount Indigo Meeting about a year ago and Tito showed up....talked for thirty seconds saying how much good work everyone had done, then said the Red Sox game starts soon, I gotta go. I didn't get the sense he was very interested in anything except making sure everyone knew he had shown up!
Dianne Wilkerson redux
Padding the payroll with unqualified political hires is what almost sunk Roxbury Community College. Weak presidents were selected who wouldn't challenge the demands of certain elected officials, who were more concerned with patronage than giving their constituents the high quality educational institution they deserved. Fortunately, those days seem to be over.
If that's what this is about, good luck Tito. Bob Brown isn't a weak president, and if you wanted to impress him, this wasn't the way to do it.
And shame on other councilors for going along with this charade.
Payrolls padded?
It was a bra. Christmas is coming and Tito could use a man-bra.
Tito needs someone to blame.
BU is the first on his list.
I'm guessing
If Walsh had just given him the commission he wanted, this wouldn't even be happening.
You mean the
commission Walsh already has that won't have Tito as its face but relies on Felix Arroyo and John Barros? That commission?
Yup
That's the one. Now that Tito doesn't have his face time, he needs something else to do.
He should go after the MBTA like Weld did
Unemployed people in areas near large employers?
Weld figured out that the MBTA had a hell of a lot to do with that.
People in Roxbury had to take three buses to get to the medical area. That's how the Cross Town (CT) buses came into being.
Actually the Crosstown buses
Actually the Crosstown buses were an initial phase of the Urban Ring project. There were supposed to be a lot more of them, and they were supposed to be a precursor to an actual rapid transit line, but alas this is the T.
And they don't really help Roxbury anyway, considering none of them even enter it. The CT1 runs from Central Square to BMC via Mass Ave, intended to relieve the 1, the CT2 runs from Ruggles to Sullivan via Longwood and Kendall, intended to relieve the orange/green/red transfers, and the CT3 runs from Andrew to Longwood via BMC and Ruggles, intended to relieve the red/green transfer.
None of those routes pass through Roxbury, with the exception of Ruggles. And most of Roxbury was already a 2-seat ride from Longwood via Ruggles anyway, via the 20-series bus routes and the 8 or 47, which they still have to do (only now they could transfer to the CT2 or CT3)
tl;dr getting people from Roxbury to Longwood had nothing to do with the CT bus routes.
This is so stupid and a waste of time.
If someone is qualified for a job then give them the job. If they're not then don't. If race and gender are that much of an issue, then don't show that information to people making hiring decisions.
In person interview
Job interviews are required for nearly all jobs and are usually conducted in person by the people responsible for making hiring decisions.
When someone interviews in person, they generally don't wear androgynous clothing and hide their racial characteristics. That would give an entirely new meaning to the term "interview suit".
How the mighty schools have fallen...
Not that I really liked the man, but if it were still John Silber in the big chair at BU, the City Council members would be cowering in their seats, hoping he won't be mean to them...