Miami
Two leading national higher education organizations have
announced a year-long campaign to encourage the nation’s colleges and
universities to launch activities in support of U.S. President Bill
Clinton’s national dialogue on race relations.
Officials from the American Council on Education (ACE) and the
Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) joined
Dr. John Hope Franklin, the distinguished historian who chairs the
President’s Advisory Board on Race; and a panel of college and
university presidents at a news conference held during ACE’s biennial
“Educating One-Third of a Nation” conference last month to make the
announcement.
“We look forward to the help in getting our message out,” Franklin told news conference attendees.
Franklin welcomed and endorsed the commitment from ACE and
AAC&U, which collectively represent more than 2,000 institutions of
higher education. He says colleges and universities have a unique role
to play in the national dialogue because they have dealt extensively
with issues involving affirmative action, campus diversity, and
multiculturalism.
“These institutions have a particular vantage point from which to
examine the issues of race and racism. The American Council on
Education and the Association of American Colleges and Universities
have answered President Clinton’s call to action by recognizing the
role that colleges and universities can play in this national
dialogue,” Franklin said.
ACE president Dr. Stanley O. Ikenberry says that ensuring equal
opportunity remains an unsolved challenge for all Americans. He noted
that educational institutions have traditionally been leaders in
creating opportunity.
