Unlike most universities, our Board of Trustees is not the governing body. There is a Board of Governors, which is composed of six politically appointed Governors and five Governors from among the Trustees. However, there are also committees that span both boards. One is the Governors Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics, which is composed of both Trustees and Governors. I’ve been on that committee for three years—I asked to join it because I’m not much of a sports fan and I thought the committee would benefit by having someone who could give a more objective opinion.

Last December, during a regularly scheduled committee meeting, we were verbally briefed by Athletic Director Tim Pernetti about Coach Mike Rice’s having behavioral problems, and the AD said his solution was a fine, suspension and counseling. We were not told that Eric Murdock—a former Director of Basketball Operations—had compiled a video of Rice’s behavior. We were not told about the language being used or about the inappropriate physical handling of the student-athletes. I found out about the video the same way you did—on mass media, last week. The FBI is investigating how and why the video was released.

It’s hard to watch the videotape of Coach Rice’s slinging the F-word at his players, along with basketballs. If you watched it, you’ll note that he sometimes had a lackey standing by to reload his basketball hand for him. There’s talk in chat rooms about people not understanding the process of building a team—that’s a lot of garbage. I earned my commission in a program run by Marine Corps drill instructors. They did not touch us, nor did they use language like that. From that perspective, my opinion is that Coach Rice’s behavior was completely unacceptable. He should have been fired on the spot.

And that’s apparently what the AD wanted to do. But he was apparently counseled to get a legal opinion, so an outside law firm was engaged to investigate—a firm that does not have the word “diversity” on its website. The report was NOT provided to the board or the athletics committee; in fact, I had no knowledge that there was an investigation or report until it was emailed to me last week. The report was contradictory in a way—it said that Rice did not create a “hostile work environment” (really?), but that there were grounds to fire him. The most legally conservative approach was taken—Rice was given a suspension, fine, counseling and a monitor—and, apparently, his behavior this year was acceptable.

So what can we learn from this?

1. Understand your organization’s mission and values. In the wake of the Tyler Clementi tragedy, Rutgers accelerated its already good LGBT policies to be one of the best in the country. The coach’s behavior was completely unacceptable according to our own codified values.
2. Utilize your corporate-governance structure. If the athletics committee had been shown the video, I am certain I wouldn’t have been the only one to demand that Rice be fired immediately. The Trustees have good diversity—but it’s useless if it’s not utilized correctly.
3. Assume that information will go viral, especially video. Information wants to flow from secrecy to exposure. In this case, the video was an edited compilation, and I’ve heard the opinion that it’s “not fair.” I think it’s plenty fair, but whether or not you agree, there’s enough there to be very, very alarmed. And the point is that there is nothing you can do to stop it, so once you’re aware of potential exposure, treat it as if it is fact and already public knowledge.
4. Lawyers are very important teammates in a decision-making matrix. But they are not the decision makers—the president is. The most conservative legal decision in this case may have been legally correct, but it was morally wrong and is a financial disaster that will probably cost the university hundreds of millions in lost and/or delayed personal and corporate donations.
5. Ignorance does not abrogate guilt when it comes to public opinion. I accept my responsibility in allowing myself to be bamboozled, and I apologize. Although it’s very difficult for a board member to not be fooled when an organization is determined to be less than forthright, I’m not going to resign because I want to do my best to make sure this never happens again.
6. Reaction must be immediate. Senior leaders must have media coaching. The president waited a very long time to respond and the response was not good enough to make anyone feel better—thus compounding the damage done.
7. Remediation must be meaningful in order for trust to be rebuilt.

Our former AD, Tim Pernetti, is a great guy who ran one of the academically best athletic programs in the nation. His leadership skills elevated our program to national prominence, and he negotiated our way into the Big Ten. I watch the way people react to leaders—the broad diversity of people he surrounded himself with was very comfortable with him. Our president, Dr. Robert Barchi, was in his first semester as president when all of this was evolving and he’s had no experience with college athletics.

I want to close with what I consider to be the greatest tragedy: The end result of this incident is that we (leadership) betrayed our LGBT students, faculty, administrators and community members, and their allies, who constitute just about all of the Rutgers family. Our campus should be an oasis from oppression—and indeed, that’s what our own values state. No coach, professor, administrator or fellow student has the right to destroy someone’s productivity by spewing hate speech. This has nothing to do with “free speech”; it has everything to do with creating a space at a university where all can come to learn. A sequence of very bad decisions not only let this coach’s horrible behavior go unchecked, but once it came to light, the behavior was papered over and the checks and balances of committee work was circumvented. Especially on a campus where we lost Tyler Clementi just two years ago, this is completely inexcusable and unacceptable.

Luke Visconti’s Ask the White Guy column is a top draw on DiversityInc.com. Visconti, the founder and CEO of DiversityInc, is a nationally recognized leader in diversity management. In his popular column, readers who ask Visconti tough questions about race/culture, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability and age can expect smart, direct and disarmingly frank answers.

The post Ask the White Guy: What I Know About the Rutgers Situation appeared first on DiversityInc.

Rutgers President Dr. Robert Barchi officially announced Pernetti’s resignation—and apologized for the scandal on behalf of himself and Rutgers leadership—today at a press conference, when he called the incidents that led to Rice’s suspension a “failure of process.” Barchi noted that assistant basketball Coach Jimmy Martelli also resigned, and that Interim General Counsel John Wolf resigned his position.

Barchi reaffirmed that he had not seen the video until this week, and that Rice’s actions were more “abusive and pervasive” than he had understood them to be. The Board of Governors says it supports him; however, many are calling for Barchi to also step down.

Pernetti wrote in his resignation letter:

My continued tenure as Athletic Director is no longer sustainable for the University which I attended and where a piece of me will always remain. In connection with the incidents involving former basketball Coach Mike Rice, as was the case with all other matters which I handled on behalf of the University, I always tried my best to do what is right. I have spent a great deal of time reflecting on the events which led to today. As you know, my first instinct when I saw the videotape of Coach Rice’s behavior was to fire him immediately. However, Rutgers decided to follow a process involving university lawyers, human resources professionals, and outside counsel. Following review of the independent investigative report, the consensus was that university policy would not justify dismissal. I have admitted my role in, and regret for, that decision, and wish that I had the opportunity to go back and override it for the sake of everyone involved.

Fallout continued to spread on Monday.

• In his first press conference since the scandal erupted, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie called Rice “an animal” but defended Barchi. “The university would be hurt drastically by the departure of Dr. Barchi, that’s why I don’t support it,” Christie said. “Also, I don’t think his conduct necessitates it.”
• Rutgers announced that it is commissioning an independent review of the way the university responded to the Rice video, and Barchi said at a town hall meeting on Rutgers’ Newark campus that the school is reviewing practice video of all sports to see if any other coaches have engaged in similar behavior.
• The FBI is also getting involved, The New York Times reports. A university official told the paper that an FBI agent met with Pernetti and made other stops on the New Brunswick campus to investigate whether former Director of Basketball Operations Eric Murdock tried to extort the university.
• Meanwhile, Rice’s previous employer, Robert Morris University, wrapped up an internal investigation into Murdock’s claims that he was told that “there were five coaches-versus-player brawls in practice.” Robert Morris Athletic Director Craig Coleman said that the investigation uncovered no evidence of the fights, but that one former player told school officials that Rice used a homophobic slur and threw a basketball at a player “once or twice” while he was at the Pennsylvania school.

DiversityInc CEO Luke Visconti, a member of the Rutgers Board of Trustees and of the Rutgers Board of Governors Standing Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics, said he was never informed about Rice’s anti-gay slurs or the fact that the video existed. Visconti says he had been told there was a disciplinary issue, which was addressed with the suspension.

The post Rutgers Scandal Update: Pernetti Resigns; President Apologizes for ‘Failure of Process’ appeared first on DiversityInc.

Here’s what they’re saying:

Rutgers coach and sports’ bully culture
The first former NBA player to be openly gay, John Amaechi, responds to the underlying issue of bullying in sports, saying that “medieval coaches” like Rice are a “detriment to society.” Amaechi spoke at DiversityInc’s event about his personal experiences with “coming out.”

Mike Rice firing reaction: Rick Pitino, Gregg Marshall chime in
Louisville coach Rick Pitino and Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall, both known for their emotionally charged coaching styles, say Rice overstepped his boundaries.

Parallels worth noting: ex-Rutgers coach Mike Rice and Jerry Sandusky
From former Penn State football coach Sandusky to Rutgers’ Rice, college scandals reveal a need for better regulation and more accountability from higher-education administrations for sports teams.

Brennan: Administrators fail Rutgers University
Rutgers’ Athletic Director needs to be fired, too, says national sports columnist Christine Brennan.

Firing of Rutgers coach Mike Rice ‘far too late,’ says Lupica
New York Daily News columnist says Rutgers isn’t doing enough—and he calls for Athletic Director Tim Pernetti to be fired as well.

Rutgers student reactions to Mike Rice firing
Not all students are shocked to hear about Rice’s abusive actions, and they agree that the University is correct in firing him. But there are those who feel Pernetti should not share the blame.

Mike Rice’s firing leads to calls for others to resign
“Rutgers should be policing themselves. It shouldn’t require the media to do it,” says Brennan.

The post What’s Everyone Saying About Rutgers’ Rice Crisis? appeared first on DiversityInc.

Barchi and Pernetti

Rutgers faculty, government officials, members of the public (and DiversityInc readers) are demanding answers to the Rutgers University basketball scandal involving physical abuse and homophobic slurs—and some are asking for the resignation of Athletic Director Tim Pernetti and Rutgers President Dr. Robert Barchi.

Basketball Coach Mike Rice was fired yesterday after video of his actions surfaced. But when Pernetti first saw the video in November, he gave Rice a slap on the wrist and allowed him to continue coaching the men’s basketball team. Because he was not fired at the time and completed the season, Rice will be paid a $100,000 bonus.

The controversy surfaced Tuesday night after ESPN aired video that showcased Rice in a rage, kicking and shoving students, throwing basketballs at their heads from close range, and using hateful, homophobic slurs like “f—-t” to degrade them. Pernetti admittedly saw the video, and similar clips, in November, as did internal and external counsel. Some reports said Barchi also had seen any video, but a Rutgers statement yesterday implied he was aware of Rice’s actions but never saw the video until Tuesday. In November, Rice was suspended for three games, fined $50,000 and required to receive anger-management counseling.

DiversityInc CEO Luke Visconti, a member of the Rutgers Board of Trustees and of the Rutgers Board of Governors Standing Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics, said he was never informed about Rice’s anti-gay slurs or the fact that the video existed. Visconti says he had been told there was a disciplinary issue, which was addressed with the suspension.

Where’s the Accountability for Leadership?

“I am responsible for the decision to attempt a rehabilitation of Coach Rice,” said Pernetti. “Dismissal and corrective action were debated in December, and I thought it was in the best interest of everyone to rehabilitate, but I was wrong. Moving forward, I will work to regain the trust of the Rutgers community.”

Although Dr. Barchi said he did not see the video until this week, he is under scrutiny for not taking a more proactive role when Pernetti approached him about the need for disciplinary action against Rice. According to the New Jersey Star-Ledger:

Barchi never asked to see the video. … It wasn’t until late Tuesday that Barchi finally watched a DVD of the excerpts with Pernetti on the Piscataway campus. Amid growing outrage and calls from the governor to fire the embattled coach, the university president finally changed his mind about Rice, according to interviews with Rutgers officials.

Many are calling for the resignation of Pernetti, including DiversityInc readers, who responded to our initial coverage in “Why Did Rutgers Wait to Fire Coach After Anti-Gay and Abusive Actions?” For example:

• Due to their failures, university President Dr. Robert Barchi and Athletic Director Tim Pernetti should now be fired—especially Pernetti.

• Pernetti stating “Moving forward, I will work to regain the trust of the Rutgers community” is insufficient. He should not be given that opportunity to work to rebuild trust—he failed in his insufficient response to the long term misbehavior of his subordinate.

• I would guess that if Barchi and Pernetti had heard the coach use the n-word or the c-word to demean the school’s student players instead of antigay f-word pejorative the coach actually used, likely a fine, a three-day suspension, and an anger management class wouldn’t have even been considered adequate at all. I don’t see the difference between using a racist pejoratives, sexist pejorative, and anti-gay pejoratives: all pejoratives demean not only those who the terms are used against, but also demean known minority populations. Use of pejoratives by people drawing salary from the university shouldn’t be tolerated at all by the university’s management.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said he was “deeply disturbed” by Rice’s actions and expects Rutgers’ administration to provide a full explanation “as to why Mr. Rice was not dismissed sooner and how exactly that decision was made. If answers aren’t forthcoming, we are prepared to do what’s needed to get them for the people of New Jersey.”

The post Should Rutgers President and Athletic Director Resign After Coach Rice Scandal? appeared first on DiversityInc.

Instead, they suspended him for three games, fined him $50,000 and sent him to anger-management classes. They only fired him after ESPN aired the video, which went viral and prompted demands for Rice’s firing from everyone from New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin to basketball star LeBron James.

DiversityInc CEO Luke Visconti, a member of the Rutgers Board of Trustees and of the Rutgers Board of Governors Standing Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics, said he was never informed about Rice’s anti-gay slurs or the fact that the video existed. He said he had been told there was a disciplinary issue, which was addressed with the suspension. DiversityInc General Counsel and Senior Vice President, Transformation Practices Lora Fong also is a member of the Rutgers Board of Trustees and also was uninformed about Rice’s specific transgressions.

“Had I known what he said and did, I would have urged Rutgers to fire him on the spot,” Visconti said.

One of the clips was broadcast on ESPN’s Outside the Lines last night. It was part of a series of clips compiled by retired NBA player Eric Murdock during practices from 2010–2012. Murdock was Rice’s Director of Player Development. All of the video, demonstrating prolonged verbal and physical abuse of players and frequent use of the anti-gay slur “f - - - - t,” were shown to Pernetti in November.

In a statement issued today, Barchi took responsibility for not initially firing Rice:

Coach Rice’s abusive language and actions are deeply offensive and egregiously violate the university’s core values.

When video excerpts of basketball practices were reviewed last fall by Athletic Director Tim Pernetti, he immediately notified me and sought the advice of internal and outside counsel. The university hired an independent investigator to look into this matter thoroughly. Based on the external investigator’s findings and recommendations, Tim and I agreed that Coach Rice should be suspended, penalized $75,000 in fines and lost salary, ordered to undergo anger management counseling, and put on notice that his behavior would be closely monitored. Tim Pernetti also made it clear to Coach Rice that there would be zero tolerance for additional infractions. Tim kept me fully apprised and I supported his actions.

Yesterday, I personally reviewed the video evidence, which shows a chronic and pervasive pattern of disturbing behavior. I have now reached the conclusion that Coach Rice cannot continue to serve effectively in a position that demands the highest levels of leadership, responsibility and public accountability. He cannot continue to coach at Rutgers University. Therefore, Tim Pernetti and I have jointly decided to terminate Mike Rice’s employment at Rutgers.

Pernetti separately issued a statement:

I am responsible for the decision to attempt a rehabilitation of Coach Rice. Dismissal and corrective action were debated in December and I thought it was in the best interest of everyone to rehabilitate, but I was wrong. Moving forward, I will work to regain the trust of the Rutgers community.

Public Values

The issue of being inclusive is critical to Rutgers’ public image, especially after the very public September 2010 suicide of gay student Tyler Clementi and the subsequent trial and publicity about bullying and invasion of privacy.

As Visconti has stated in his Ask the White Guy column, “Credibility received for your professed values is dependent on your decisive execution of actions based on your values. This does not preclude empathy and forgiveness for mistakes, but values cannot be parsed without exposure to repercussions.” He also notes that in this age of transparency, an organization cannot EVER think it can hide offensive actions.

The post Why Did Rutgers Wait to Fire Coach After Anti-Gay and Abusive Actions? appeared first on DiversityInc.

A Black historian and community activist, Price is the Rutgers Board of Governors Distinguished Service Professor of History at the Newark, N.J., campus. Price is most known for founding the Institute on Ethnicity, Culture and the Modern Experience 12 years ago “to plow the choppy, interesting waters of diversity,” he says.

Price also cofounded the Marion Thompson Wright Lecture Series in 1981, one of the nation’s oldest Black History Month conferences that has since attracted some of the world’s most notable scholars and historians to the region. (Local legend Marion Thompson Wright was one of the first professionally trained Black women historians in the country.)

“We launched the lecture series to re-center the history in Black History Month,” Price says. “It was our concern that it had become increasingly dedicated to entertainment and less to [its founding principles]—historical literacy.”

To ensure the continuation of the lecture series, “which over the last 10 years has drawn an increasingly diverse audience,” Price gift of $100,000 to the university established an endowment. He played a pivotal role in helping to recognize the 40th anniversary of the 1967 Newark summer riots and hosted the award-winning “The Once and Future Newark” documentary.

He sits on the New Jersey state steering committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, responsible for reporting civil-rights issues in the Garden State. And last year, Price served on President Obama’s transition team, chairing the National Endowment for the Humanities.

See this article as it originally appeared in DiversityInc magazine.

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As Judge Glenn Berman said, there will be no closure for the Clementi family, whose son killed himself after cyber-bullying by his roommate, Ravi, who publicly exposed Clementi’s sexual relationship with another man. Read the real-time notes from the hearing or view pictures from the trial. 

Before the Ravi verdict, LGBT leaders were split on the need for its severity. Many leaders argued—and we would agree—that sending Ravi to prison for a significant time was more about making an example than what’s really needed: emphasizing the societal and organizational issues that allow bias and bullying to exist. Former NJ Gov. James McGreevey wrote an op-ed voicing this sentiment. 

The focus—and the emphasis on diversity management’s role—should be on education in cultural competence and holding people accountable for adhering to organizational values. Holding people accountable primarily means not allowing it to continue to remain as part of the institution. So a person, for example, who exhibits racist or homophobic views should be asked to leave the company. If laws are broken, as some were in this case, then punishments should be left to law enforcement. 

Read Our Analysis of the HRC’s Corporate Equality Index and What Clinton’s Global LGBT-Rights Speech Means for Your Company for more on LGBT issues. 

Diversity-Management Actions for Holding People Accountable 

The best way to prevent bias in the workplace—against any group—is to clearly state your values and uphold them, holding people directly accountable for the repercussions of negative actions. 

Here are some guidelines from diversity-management best practices you should follow: 

• Be clear in all communications—from the top on down—that there is a no-tolerance policy for discrimination, harassment or any behaviors that are not inclusive of everything. This message must resonate from the top. At DiversityInc Top 50 companies, 94 percent of the CEOs have a personal message emphasizing diversity and inclusion on the corporate website, and 94 percent make sure diversity and inclusion is part of the official mission statement. Read Ask DiversityInc: Which Companies Have the Best Diversity Websites? 

• Understand the laws and make sure your managers do as well. The laws on discriminatory actions and words are very clear. Compliance training is different from diversity training (which emphasizes cultural competence), but make sure that EVERYONE gets what’s legal and what’s not. Read these articles on legal issues to learn how to avoid discrimination lawsuits. 

• Mandatory diversity training for the entire workforce is essential. Creating an inclusive workplace is all about education and allowing people to understand and appreciate differences instead of using them to drive wedges. Sixty-six percent of the DiversityInc Top 50 companies now require mandatory diversity training of all employees, compared with 58 percent five years ago. For more on this subject, read Do White Men Really Need Diversity Outreach? and Diversity Management: Training Exposes Execs’ Hidden Biases. 

• Use resource groups for education and to ferret out areas of discrimination. Your resource groups are your best eyes and ears on the ground to both formally and informally lead people to better comprehension of others’ differences—and to tell you when there are potentially serious issues going on that will lead to problems. Read Safe LGBT Spaces: What Schools Can Learn From Resource Groups and watch our Diversity Web Seminar on Resource Groups for more. 

• When a problem occurs, address it swiftly and decisively, adhering to your values. As many case studies prove, ignoring discrimination or trivializing it never works. Biased actions can occur in any institution, as Rutgers University found out in this tragic case. Even with all the preventive actions described above, chances are something will happen that will require action as well as clear internal and external communications. Be very clear and very true to your moral statements. And be very clear about the ramifications. See also: Ask the White Guy: Decision Making, Clarity of Values & What to Do When It Goes Horribly Wrong.

–Barbara Frankel

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The Big Four professional-services firm, which must aggressively compete for new talent in its industry, opened the doors of its New York City headquarters this summer to 100 rising high-school juniors from New Brunswick and Piscataway, N.J. For two days, the students were able to discover firsthand what it’s like to be an accountant at Ernst & Young and the opportunities the profession can provide.

The students are members of the Rutgers Future Scholars (RFS) Class of 2017. The program’s mission is to increase the number of academically ambitious high-school graduates who come from low-income backgrounds by helping them meet college-admittance standards. RFS also provides scholarships to those who attend Rutgers. Students are accepted into the program in seventh grade from Newark, Camden, New Brunswick and Piscataway, N.J. Currently, there are about 800 scholars in grades 8–11.

Luke Visconti, DiversityInc CEO and co-chair of the fundraising committee for Rutgers Future Scholars, attended the event at Ernst & Young. He is also on the Rutgers board of trustees.

Scholars listened as Ernst & Young employees discussed their high-school and college experiences. The students talked to partners about what a career in accounting can offer—including potential salaries, clients and travel opportunities—and had interactive sessions that taught the students best practices in general business communication styles, leadership and goal setting. Ernst & Young even highlighted potential opportunities available to accounting majors at Rutgers University.

Most students, such as Jamira Riddick, were unfamiliar with the accounting industry before the event. Riddick loves math but didn’t want anything to do with it as a career. “I always thought accounting would be boring,” she says. “I didn’t even have knowledge about what accounting really was.”

The exposure worked on Riddick. “They made me think of accounting as something that could be fun; you just have to make it fun,” she says. If she becomes an accountant, Riddick would like to work at Ernst & Young.

Diversity in Accounting

The event was part of the firm’s efforts to diversify its pipeline of talent for future recruits and to diversify the ranks of accounting professionals overall. “We work with a lot of universities around diversity and inclusiveness. It’s really important to the firm,” says Gioia Pisano, inclusiveness recruiting leader at Ernst & Young.

Latinos comprise only 3 percent of the CPA profession, and Blacks account for only 1 percent, according to the American Institute of CPAs. Of new CPA hires, 4 percent were Latino, 4 percent were Black and just 1 percent were American Indian.

Aggregate data submitted by the Big Four accounting firms for The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity survey shows a similar lack of racial diversity in new hires, except for Asian Americans. The data shows 6.4 percent are Black, 5.2 percent are Latino and just 0.6 percent are American Indian. Asian Americans, in contrast, account for 21.1 percent of new hires at the Big Four. The Big Four are PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young, Deloitte and KPMG, Nos. 1, 6, 8 and 22 on the DiversityInc Top 50 list, respectively.

“These young people are being exposed to organizations and corporations like Ernst & Young, interacting with professionals, engaging in conversations with them, which allows them to envision themselves in places just like this,” says Aramis Gutierrez, director of Rutgers Future Scholars.

Benefits to Students, Ernst & Young

The firm left an impression on all the students. “I think it’s wonderful that they’re giving high-school students like myself the opportunity to experience what goes on in the actual building,” says Zaire Gorrell, a junior at New Brunswick High School. “They’re actually giving us an opportunity to come here and learn, hands on, what you can do at Ernst & Young.”

Masiel Torres, a junior at New Brunswick Health Sciences Technology High School, was trying to decide between a marketing or accounting career, and she may choose accounting. “It seems like a very interesting job, something you grow in and where I can challenge myself every day,” she says.

Pisano says that, long term, Rutgers Future Scholars does more than just serve a good cause. It can help the firm deliver results to global clients. “Our clients are asking for diverse teams, and they know that diverse teams bring great solutions,” Pisano says. “It’s imperative that we go out and make sure that everyone is aware of the opportunities within accounting so that we can serve our global clients.” Pisano hopes that some of these students will eventually work for Ernst & Young.

Gutierrez agrees. “Ernst & Young benefits from just simply having the opportunity to be exposed to 800 individuals that we have in our program; it’s a pipeline of untapped talent that not many other organizations or corporations have access to,” he says. 

The 2011 summer visit to Ernst & Young was a first-time event for the firm. Ernst & Young has been a partner of Rutgers Future Scholars for two years, providing financial support for the program’s SAT-prep courses. In anticipation of the two-day event, Ernst & Young reps visited the scholars on campus to give a general overview about the company’s philosophy and mission. Scholars from Newark and Camden will visit Ernst & Young’s New York headquarters at a later date.

The Rutgers Future Scholars program selects talented seventh-graders from Newark, Camden, New Brunswick and Piscataway, N.J., providing college preparation and mentoring, as well as scholarships if admitted to Rutgers University. Currently, there are almost 800 scholars in grades 8–11. Individual and corporate contributions provide vital support for these worthwhile young scholars. For more information, contact aramis.gutierrez@rutgers.edu.

The post Rutgers Future Scholars Enhances Talent Pipelines With Corporate-Student Outreach appeared first on DiversityInc.

But after earning his master’s degree in public health from Rutgers University, Khan quickly discovered that “as a foreign student, you have limited opportunities in the United States if you want to go to medical school.” So Khan got his M.D. from University Eugenia Maria De Hostos in the Dominican Republic and then returned to the United States to dedicate his life to helping Black, Latino and other underrepresented students pursue careers in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields.

In 1985, while serving as an instructor at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, Khan cofounded the Rutgers University Office of Diversity and Academic Success in the Sciences (ODASIS), whose Access-Med program prepares promising undergrads from economically and/or academically disadvantaged groups for STEM careers with emphasis on health-allied professions. Today, Khan’s program serves about 500 at-risk undergrads annually, and in 2009, 86 percent were accepted to medical school.

“It’s all about increasing the numbers,” says the associate director, noting that the year ODASIS began, only one Rutgers student had gone into the medical profession.

When Khan isn’t pushing undergrads to “give it their all,” he’s creating a feeder pool of potential STEM students by working with local students as early as ninth grade through four separate college-prep programs. A tireless and charismatic leader, Khan also serves as faculty adviser to Rutgers’ Islamic Society, the West Indian Student Organization and the Department of Africana Studies.

Last year, Khan was recognized with the AspiringDocs.org Recognition Award from the Association of American Medical Colleges for helping to close the disparities gap in the med-school application pool.

The post Where Are Today’s STEM Students? appeared first on DiversityInc.

Comment: I feel the need to respond to the comment, “does this mean that white doctors do not provide good quality of care?” and to the blatant sarcasm of the person who commented about Asian doctors. I did not come from a background of economic privilege, but I did become a doctor through a fantastic scholarship program (Navy). When I noticed the great disparity in the primary and secondary education that students receive in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and the incredibly low numbers of students of color applying to and being accepted by U.S. medical schools, I figured out the connection. There is great discrepancy in guidance, exposure and opportunity among students attending different schools geographically in this area, and I am sure that is true of any urban area.

I decided to address the pipeline—if students are not exposed to opportunities outside their neighborhoods before it is “too late,” that window (or door) will be shut permanently. My biomedical science summer program for high school students is designed to be diverse­—students come from public and private schools, D.C., Virginia, Maryland (and out of state), and come from nuclear or non-nuclear homes. All staff are volunteers. The students do all the same activities and have the same expectations. The dynamics are unbelievable. One of the recurrent comments we receive from the suburban students is that they had NO IDEA that students just like them living less than 10 miles away had to make decisions everyday that they never think of. For example, how many suburban kids whose next summer activity is sleep-away lacrosse camp have to decide whether they should use the $5 their foster mother gave them to take the metro to our hospital OR eat lunch (but not both)? How much of society obsesses about single parent households when some of our students come from zero parent households and still have the drive to succeed?

So, the answer is yes, white doctors do provide good care, but there are many patients to whom they may not relate if they have not been exposed to the decisions that some of our patients have to make every day. If you don’t understand the culture, experience, or background that another person comes from, you will naturally impose your own experiences on them. This is a natural instinct, but can lead to dangerous judgmental decisions that can impact your interaction with your patients and result in poorer outcomes. For example, many of us take half a day off for a doctor’s appointment. What about the patient who is late for an appointment because they couldn’t get off work from an hourly-wage job (and is not getting paid for the hours not worked) who has to find child care and take a bus? Why do office personnel yell at these patients or judge them because they are late for an appointment or why does the doctor refuse to see them if they are late? Cultural competency alone can improve the health literacy and outcomes for this high-risk population.

The majority (and I recognize that not all white men have had the same economic, social, etc. experiences) physicians are and will continue to be the backbone of the health care system—they trained us, mentored us, and celebrated our successes and will continue to do so. Programs that will allow students of color or educationally disadvantaged students to realize their potential, besides being the right thing to do, are economically and ethically sound and do not threaten the deserving majority.

With regard to Asian doctors, it is time for all of us to understand that each of the census categories is diverse within itself. “Hispanic” for example covers at least three continents and a multitude of customs, traditions, values, and beliefs. The Asian population additionally is not tied together by language, history, appearance/color, religion, or immigration accession point. Some of us are third and fourth generation and are still asked where we learned to speak English. While Asians may be visible as physicians, scientists, and engineers, they still only constitute less than 5% of the U.S. population. The sad reality is that there are only very few states where this may be true. AND furthermore, this stereotype leaves a huge underserved immigrant and first-generation Asian population at an even greater disadvantage. And many of the languages, customs, traditions, values, and beliefs among these Asian cultures prevent them from ever advocating for each other or even themselves.— Cynthia Macri, U.S. Navy

The views expressed herein are solely those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of DiversityInc.

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