Washburn professor talks about origins of affirmative action

K-State Collegian
Rico van Buskirk
Published: Friday, April 3, 2009
Updated: Friday, April 3, 2009

The Hemisphere Room of Hale Library was full Thursday night as Mark Peterson, associate professor and department chair of political science at Washburn University in Topeka, presented a lecture about the origins of affirmative action and the present state of equal-opportunity employment.
The lecture was the 31st presentation in the Dorothy L. Thompson Civil Rights Lecture Series. The series memorializes the contributions Thompson made to the advancement of civil rights at K-State and nationwide.
Peterson began by describing the life of Topeka native Arthur Fletcher, who is considered the father of affirmative action. Peterson, who is currently working on a biography of Fletcher, said he recorded 11 hours of dialogue with him.
Fletcher passed away in July 2005 at the age of 80. He served in the Nixon administration as the assistant secretary of labor. Fletcher later served as the executive director of the United Negro College Fund for four years. The phrase "A mind is a terrible thing to waste" was coined during his tenure at the UNCF.
Peterson described his interest in affirmative action as the result of a chance encounter with Fletcher three years before his death.
He stressed the idea that many companies, in an attempt to support affirmative action initiatives, try to hire people in a manner that will make their work-force diversity more representative of the community in which the company is based.

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