Race Still Matters in Engineering

By Carl MackNNPA On behalf of the National Society of Black Engineers, (NSBE) the largest student-managed organization in the world, with a membership of 15,000 African-American engineering students and technical professionals, I feel compelled to speak out against the shocking revelation that of the approximate 800 students who entered the 2004-2005 class of the engineering school at University of California- Berkeley, not one was an African-American. The troubling news also revealed that out of a total class of 3,600 students entering the state’s flagship university, only 25 Black males, who were not athletes, were admitted last fall. While I applaud the courage and vision of Berkeley Chancellor, Robert Birgeneau for highlighting yet another devastating impact of Proposition 209, we find the comments and actions of California Regent Ward Connerly to be as shallow as his commitment to equality. In response to the news conference held by Chancellor Birgeneau last week, Connerly stated that for airing the horrific impact of Prop 209, Chancellor Birgeneau should be, “fired,” or “taken behind the woodshed for revealing such disregard for the people who pay the bills.” This strikes me as yet another confirmation of Connerly’s Judas-complex and I will go on record and say that Connerly is willing to sell his soul for a dollar. When my colleague Tony Harris founded NSBE more than 30 years ago, it was out of a sense of frustration. ”As African-American students in schools of engineering in the early and mid-70’s we felt as if we were not wanted or accepted.” Harris recently commented, “There were very few of us students, even fewer administrators and almost no Black faculty in engineering. With many Black students leaving school or changing majors and no role models to be found, we often wondered if success was even possible in such hostile environments.” ”We founded the National Society of Black Engineers to provide a support network and to provide a vehicle to make us feel like we did belong and that we could succeed. It saddens me… no, it angers me to hear that 30 years later with all of the inroads our organization has made nationally and internationally, UC Berkeley is unable to attract one black student to its school of engineering,” said Harris, Vice President of Marketing at San Jose based-Calpine Corporation and a member of the NSBE National Advisory Board. “We even had 25 Blacks in my entering class at Purdue University in 1971… in an ultra-conservative state like Indiana.” In the 1990s, Bob Laird, then UC Berkley’s director of undergraduate admissions, all but predicted the embarrassing results of Prop 209 for the so-called liberal “Blue” state of California. Today, what was considered fair and objective thinking by many Californians has manifested itself into a reality that should draw concern from even the most conservative of its citizens. In the National Innovation Initiative report released by the U.S. Council on Competitiveness in 2004, the conclusion was reached that innovation was the key to future economic growth in America. According to the latest data from the Council, however, America is being out produced nearly 5-to-1 per year in graduating engineers. While this country is producing approximately 80,000 engineers a year, China and Japan are producing nearly 400,000. With this fact as a backdrop, Ward Connerly has convinced the citizens of California to, “cut off their nose to spite their face.” As a country that claims that “no child left behind,” the development of all of our talent should be priority number one. There are incredibly successful programs in this country that understand the commitment to diversity and equality, programs such as Facilitating Academic Careers in Engineering and Science (FACES). FACES was developed by Gary S. May and colleagues at the Georgia Institute of Technology. May, a former national chair of NSBE, current national advisor of NSBE, and 1991 Ph.D. graduate of UC Berkley, is only the second African- American to lead a Top 10 electrical engineering department. The FACES program is sponsored by the National Science Foundation and is an effort between Georgia Tech, Emory University, Morehouse College, and Spelman College. Its aim is to increase the number of African-Americans attaining doctorates in engineering and science. Since the inception of FACES in 1998, Georgia Tech has graduated 138 minority doctoral students in science and engineering. Of that number, more than 60 percent are African-American. Although California is a blue state, Georgia is a red state, a southern state, a progressive state, and apparently in the right state of mind. When asked if he would have attended UC Berkeley after the passage of Prop 209, May stated, “Although I had a wonderful educational and social experience at Berkeley in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I would have second thoughts about matriculating there in the current post-Prop 209 environment.” Furthermore, when asked about the success of Georgia Tech in recruiting African- American students into engineering, science, technology and math, May stated, “Georgia Tech has been among the most successful universities in the country with respect to diversity because of three primary reasons: first, our strong relationship with historically Black colleges and universities; second, because the faculty, staff and administration at Georgia Tech have backed up their verbal commitment with serious financial commitments; and finally, we have been able to successfully develop a culture and environment that welcomes, promotes and supports academic excellence among African- Americans.” According to the current NSBE National Chair, Chancee’ Lundy, a second year master’s candidate in Environmental Engineering at Florida A&M University – Florida State College of Engineering (FAMU-FSU COE): “In order to head off the catastrophic devastation at UC Berkeley and other California universities, several approaches should be followed: first, the citizens of California should reverse Prop 209; next, Governor Schwarzenegger should fill the position vacated by Connerly with an individual who values the true principals of education, to teach and to develop; and finally, until this situation is reversed, other educational and civic-minded groups should follow the lead of the National Society of Black Engineers and boycott the state. In fact, NSBE has vowed that when reviewing sites to host its annual national convention which has more than 10,000 attendees, it would not consider California. As executive director of the National Society of Black Engineers, I stand ready and willing to meet with the new Chancellor, the UC Board of Regents, or the Governor of California to help resolve this crisis. But we firmly believe in practicing what we preach which means, no Black scholars – no Black dollars!”Carl B. Mack is executive director of the National Society of Black Engineers