American Association for Access, Equity and Diversity Statement on the Gallup Opinion Poll on Affirmative Action

Association takes issue with July 8th Opinion Poll on Affirmative Action and calls it "Misleading and Inaccurate"

Washington, DC, July 20, 2016 - The American Association for Access, Equity and Diversity (AAAED), an association of equal opportunity, affirmative action, diversity and human resources professionals, has taken issue with an opinion poll's results published by Inside Higher Ed (IHE) on July 8, 2016.

The article is titled "Poll: Public Opposes Affirmative Action." This poll was released on the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin case, where the plaintiff, Abigail Fisher, claimed that the University violated the Constitution by using race as a factor in admitting students. Ms. Fisher failed to gain admission. The Court held in favor of the University. 

In a letter to Inside Higher Ed dated July 13, 2016, AAAED wrote:
"At issue is the way the questions were presented, which yielded the predictable results. The primary question posed is: 'Which comes closer to your view about evaluating students for admission into a college or university - applicants should be admitted solely on the basis of merit, even if that results in few minority students being admitted....?'"

The Association's letter stated: "The decision is never race vs. merit. Selective colleges and universities have for decades considered a number of factors including test scores and grades. Geography, athletics, musical ability and other talents, socio-economic status, legacies, being first generation college-going, or extra-curricular activities are examples of these factors."
"Race is also not simply a matter of skin color and is an equally valid consideration as is athletic ability or socio-economic status," added AAAED Executive Director Shirley J. Wilcher. The letter states: Race "reflects experiences as members of minority groups, like, e.g., being profiled by police or subjected to sub-standard schools."

Read the Inside Higher Ed article here.

Read the complete AAAED statement here.

Read the AAAED letter to Inside Higher Ed here.

43rd National Conference and Annual Meeting June 7 - 9, 2017 in Scottsdale, Arizona

The bylaws of the American Association for Access, Equity and Diversity (AAAED) require that there be “A meeting of members for the transaction of business of the Association to be brought before it, [which] shall be held each year….” Thus, AAAED holds an annual meeting of its membership in selected cities around the nation. The meeting is held in conjunction with a national conference, including plenary sessions, workshops, and other opportunities for professional development and networking. Every four years when the national presidential election is held, the association has, by tradition, hosted its annual meeting in Washington, DC.

To date, AAAED has held 42 national conferences. AAAED welcomes members, sponsors, exhibitors and members of the general public to join us at our annual conference to refresh your knowledge about issues regarding access, equity and diversity and matters of compliance with federal equal opportunity laws. National decision makers and policy advocates are always in attendance and the AAAED conference is an excellent opportunity to share information and to network with members in the EEO, affirmative action, diversity and related professions.

The 43rd AAAED National Conference and Annual Meeting will take place June 7 - 9, 2017 in Scottsdale, Arizona. Save the date!

AAAED Webinar: "The Fisher Decision: What it Means to Educators, Employers and Diversity/AA Professionals"

On June 23, 2016 the United States Supreme Court upheld the consideration of race as one of many factors in the admissions program of the University of Texas at Austin. The American Association for Access, Equity and Diversity (AAAED), which filed two amicus curiae briefs in support of the University of Texas' admissions program, hailed the decision. AAAED News Release on Fisher .                                 

On July 12, 2016, the AAAED attorneys who drafted the briefs will hold a webinar to discuss the Court's decision and its implications for educators, employers and AA/Diversity professionals.

The July 12, 2016 Webinar will be presented by:

Matthew Camardella, Esq., Jackson Lewis PC
Marilynn Schuyler, Esq., Schuyler Affirmative Action Practice
Dean Sparlin, Esq., Sparlin Law
Joe Weiner, Esq., Littler Mendelson P.C

Attorneys Camardella, Schuyler and Sparlin serve on the board of AAAED.

Register for the AAAED Webinar here.

Register now for the AAAED Fall Professional Development Programs

Are you a certified affirmative action professional? Do you have your CAAP? Don't you think it's time to stand out among your colleagues as a Certified or Sr. Certified Affirmative Action Professional?

Do you conduct federal EEO Investigations? Need Title IX or Diversity Management Training? Sign up for the upcoming training opportunities offered by AAAED's Professional Development and Training Institute (PDTI):

Register for the Annual Refresher for Federal EEO Counselors and Investigators, September 21, 2016, in Washington, DC here.

Register for the Fall Professional Development and Training Institute, November 14 - 19, 2016, in Philadelphia, PA here.

American Association for Access, Equity and Diversity Announces the 2016 Honorees for its Annual Awards Program

Three Congressional Icons as well as Leaders in the Equal Opportunity, Diversity and Civil Rights Fields will be honored at the Association’s 42nd National Conference and Annual Meeting

The American Association for Access, Equity and Diversity (AAAED), an organization of equal opportunity, diversity and affirmative action professionals, announced the 2016 honorees of its annual awards program. The awards will be conferred during the Association’s 42nd National Conference and Annual Meeting themed "Bridging the Opportunity Gap: Business, Education and Government."

Read the press release here.

AAAED New Professionals Academy (June 6-7, 2016)

Monday, June 06, 2016 8:00 AM - Tuesday, June 07, 2016 5:00 PM (Eastern Time)

42nd National Conference and Annual Meeting

Sheraton Tysons Hotel

8661 Leesburg Pike

Vienna, Virginia 22182

Click here to register.

New Professional Academy Topics include ...

Diversity & Inclusion:

• Why Diversity Matters; Building the Business Case for Diversity
• Understanding your organization’s culture
• Unconscious Bias
• Sexual Harassment Prevention Education

Effective Supervision:

• Professionalism and Business Etiquette
• New Professionals’ Presentations
• The Power of One; Influencing your supervisor and organization to achieve excellent results.
• HR, Diversity & EEO – Understanding how to create collaborative relationships and develop effective work strategies for success

Career Planning:

• How to build a comprehensive career/professional development plan

Course Eligibility: To assure that the new professional's participation in the Academy is fully endorsed by the current senior EEO/AA officer at his/her institution, registrants must have a letter of support submitted by the senior leadership from their respective institutions. There is a limit of two participants per institution.

The application process for NPA 2016 is a three-step process: Each applicant must fill out an on-line application, submit a resume and a high-resolution photo head-shot (this will be included in the NPA participant directory to be shared with academy participants.)

Monday, May 2, 2016: Deadline for submission of application and letter of support

Tuesday, May 10, 2016: Applicants advised of selection decision

Register to Attend the 2016 AAAED Annual Cnference and Meeting

June 7-10, 2016, Washington, DC

Sheraton Tysons Hotel
8661 Leesburg PIke
Vienna, Virginia 22182 USA

Please join us for our 42nd annual national conference and meeting in Washington D.C., entitled Bridging Opportunities: Business, Education, and Government. As the conference theme illustrates, we will help you to develop proactive partnerships to make your workplaces more diverse, inclusive, and compliant.

Our goal is to provide attendees with practical guidance and tips that can be put to use quickly within your organizations. We will offer interactive workshops on a variety of topics such as Affirmative Action, Title IX, Diversity, Inclusion, LGBTQ, Veterans, Disability-related matters, and so much more. You will hear from agencies such as the OFCCP, EEOC, OCR, and others. We will also offer a pre-conference day of basic learning in access, equity, and diversity topics, Title IX, and senior certification for PDTI.

This conference is designed to meet the needs of any person classified as an EEO/AA or diversity professional. This would include equal opportunity directors, EEO specialists, affirmative action officers, human resource professionals, diversity consultants and leaders, industrial relations specialists, labor relations advisors, career planning specialists, prospective managers, and other professionals. You do not need to be a member of AAAED to attend. Registration is open!

Click here to register for the conference

Agenda at a Glance

June 6-7, 2016 - New Professional Academy Day (separate registration required, application and recommendation by employer needed)

June 7, 2016 - Annual Refresher for Federal EEO Counselors & Investigators (separate registration required) 

June 7, 2016 - PDTI Program for Experienced Practitioners (separate registration required) 

June 7, 2016 - Title IX: Beginner & Beyond the Basics (separate registration required)

June 7, 2016 - Preconference Workshops (eligible for CAAP and Sr. CAAP recertification)

June 8-10, 2016 - Conference 

AAAED will pursue HRCI and CLE certification for the program.

AAAED Spring 2016 PDTI and Title IX Institute (March 21-26, 2016)

Monday, March 21, 2016 8:00 AM - Saturday, March 26, 2016 5:00 PM (Eastern Time) Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia

Register for the March 2016 AAAED Professional Development and Training Institute/Title IX Institute: https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?EventID=1795043.

30% CAAP Discount Available for AAAED Members 10% CAAP Discount for Non-AAAED Members

Registrants may work towards the completion of the Certified Affirmative Action Professional (CAAP) credential by registering for the following courses:

March 21 - 22, 2016: Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Law (16 hrs.)

March 23 - 24, 2016: Developing and Implementing an Affirmative Action Program (16 hrs.)

March 25 - 26, 2016: Complaint Processing, Counseling and Resolution (16 hrs.)

Registrants may work towards the completion of the Title IX certificate by registering for the Title IX Institute: https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?EventId=1814739.

March 24, 2016: Title IX Institute (8 hrs.)

All courses are Human Resources Certification Institute (HRCI) pre-approved.

How Many Protests Will It Take to Finally Diversify Our Campuses?

By William B. Harvey, The Chronicle of Higher Education

It may appear to outside observers that colleges and universities have made tremendous progress in regard to racial attitudes and practices over the past several decades. Certainly, their brochures and other public-relations materials would lead to this conclusion, as do the messages on their websites and social-media platforms. But the intensity and frequency of demonstrations conducted by students of color at campuses across the nation during the last few months do not reconcile with the sense of racial harmony that the institutions have attempted to convey. Further, faculty and administrators of color have offered their own testimonies of marginalization and exclusion that echo the students’ expressions of dissatisfaction.

Read the story here.

Related content:

• How Racial Divisions at Colleges Start in a Segregated Society (EBONY)
• White Privilege Undermines Diversity in Higher Education (Diverse Issues in Higher Education)
• Concerned Student 1950 protesters march through University of Missouri campus (Columbia Daily Tribune)
• Students Demand More Minority Advisers and Counselors (Inside Higher Ed)
• New Big Ten Initiative Play, Baltimore, Confronts Race on Campus (Inside Higher Ed)
• Sustaining a Fight Against Racism (The Chronicle of Higher Education - requires paid subscription)

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!

“All we say to America is be true to what you said on paper.”

These words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. were delivered on April 3, 1968, at the Mason Temple Church of God in Christ in Memphis, Tennessee, the night before his assassination. This would be his last public address, closing out a mere 13 years of public advocacy for civil and human rights that began with a bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama in December 1955. And yet, despite its relative brevity, Dr. King and his leadership fundamentally changed our nation and served to inspire us to greater heights of social justice for generations of Americans. It is in recognition and tribute to his consequential leadership that we pause on this day to pay homage to his birth.

This speech in Memphis, often referenced as the “Mountaintop Address”, refers to a passage from Dr. King’s powerful conclusion, where he drew upon the religious imagery of Moses and Joshua and declared: “Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land!”

But I’ve often thought that the most important, but too often overlooked, passage in the speech was his simple and yet powerful declaration that “All we say to America is be true to what you said on paper.” It is this language that demonstrates Dr. King’s brilliance as a leader, social critic and theorist. He refused to allow the civil and human rights movement, or his leadership, to be marginalized or “segregated” from the larger American narrative of freedom, justice and equality. He insisted throughout his public life that the fight for civil and human rights in America was interwoven with the very idea of “America” itself. This was the intellectual ground on which he fought and his efforts to connect his work with our nation’s most revered documents can be seen in the ubiquitous references throughout his speeches and writings from Montgomery to Memphis.

Listen to him make that connection at the Holt Street Baptist Church in Montgomery on December 5, 1955, rallying the movement minutes after he had been elected its leader, and just four days after Rosa Parks had been arrested:

“And we are not wrong, we are not wrong in what we are doing. If we are wrong, the Supreme Court of this nation is wrong. If we are wrong, the Constitution of the United States is wrong.”

Again, some eight years later from his solitary jail cell in Birmingham, Alabama he wrote:

"One day the South will know that when these disinherited children of God sat down at lunch counters they were in reality standing up for the best in the American dream and the most sacred values in our Judeo-Christian heritage, and thus carrying our whole nation back to the great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in the formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence."

Notwithstanding the failure of our nation and many of its leaders to make the promises of American democracy real for African Americans and others, Dr. King found real value and hope in these promises and in much of the rhetoric of America’s founding social and political documents. From what he saw as the all encompassing language of the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal” to the principles and ideals embedded in the Constitution as expressed in its Preamble, “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice. . .”, to the judicial rulings of the Supreme Court mandating equality under the law, and to the legislative acts affirming that full citizenship rights be accorded those previously denied in public transportation and commerce, voting rights, housing, education, and all spheres of civil rights. This, Dr. King believed was the great promise of America that was already evident in its many written documents. All that was needed was action to make the promises a reality for all.

Finally, I’ve always thought that the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday, of all our holidays, is especially significant for AAAED and our members. No other national holiday more directly embodies the raison d'etre for why AAAED exist or represents the work of our members on a day-to-day basis. You, my colleagues, as much as any others, and perhaps more than most, can rightly lay claim to advancing Dr. King’s legacy and mantel, and the ideals and values for which he lived and died. So as you pursue your noble and righteous work in venues large and small; in education, corporate, government, and non-profit sectors; may you do so with courage, conviction, hopefulness and faithfulness to cause, ever mindful that Dr. King’s aspirations for our nation must be your own: “All we say to America is be true to what you said on paper.”

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!

Marshall Rose

Marshall Rose, President AAAED – January 18, 2016

AAAED President's Corner - Happy New Year 2016!

We join this nation and much of the world in celebrating the arrival of a new year. This annual transition always occasions powerful symbolism. It beckons us to past reflection but also summons us to future imaginings.

While it is to be expected that we will look back and think of loved ones no longer with us, and perhaps of opportunities squandered or lost, it is the promise of the future that should command our greatest attention: to be able to experience new beginnings, to have another opportunity to fulfill that dream, to rekindle waning friendships, to strengthen family ties and values that we seek for ourselves. This and more is what the gift of a new year brings.

So as we begin this New Year, I want to express my deepest and most sincere appreciation for all the good work you do on behalf of AAAED and for your consummate efforts to expand access, opportunity and diversity within your work environments and within the communities in which you live. You are truly making our world a better place for all. It is my honor and privilege to call you my colleagues and friends.

Happy New Year!

Marshall Rose

AAAED Office Administrator Position Available

The American Association for Access, Equity and Diversity (AAAED) is looking for a candidate to fill a part-time Office Administrator position. The primary responsibilities are to provide office management and administrative support for the Washington, D.C. office of AAAED. The successful candidate will provide support to the AAAED Executive Director.

The Office Administrator’s responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Providing assistance to the AAAED Board and Executive Committee for quarterly and annual meetings and the AAAED annual conference including assembling board reports and other materials, securing a location for meetings, making travel arrangements and other coordination, logistical, and accommodation requirements.
• Handling office administration including filing, maintenance and archives of electronic and paper records, mail sorting, space and facilities logistics, and temporary and internship staffing.
• Serving as first point of contact by answering telephone calls and other inquiries from the membership and the public, including the media.
• Processing membership registrations and benefits; work with Membership Chair to distribute membership satisfaction surveys and collect survey analyses.
• Handling AAAED bills and collections.
• Assisting with the maintenance of the AAAED’s listserv and website.
• Assisting the chair of the Professional Development and Training Institute to deliver training by identifying locations for the training, assembling the materials, arranging travel, marketing, developing online registration site and processing registrations, coordinating onsite logistics, providing technical support for webinar training, and other logistical support.
• Providing assistance to the AAAED Executive Director and AAAED Board to increase AAAED’s membership and raise the visibility of the organization.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Minimum of two years of office management experience and an exposure to event or conference planning.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and attention to detail.
• Strong PC skills including Microsoft Word, Access, Excel, Publisher and database use required.
• The ability to work independently, develop schedules, manage multiple tasks and meet deadlines is essential. Undergraduate degree preferred.
• Willingness to travel to board meetings, professional development training and annual meetings.
• Experience with association management and/or civil rights organizations is a plus.

Qualified candidates should submit a resume to aaaaexecdir[at]gmail.com.

AAAED / LEAD Fund Internships Available for Spring 2016 and Summer 2016

The American Association for Access, Equity and Diversity and The Fund for Leadership, Equity, Access and Diversity Internships

The American Association for Access, Equity and Diversity (AAAED) and the Fund for Leadership, Equity, Access and Diversity (LEAD Fund) offer substantive programs designed to give undergraduate and graduate students interested in such fields as equal opportunity, diversity and inclusion, affirmative action, civil rights, EEO law, nonprofit development, human resources, web communications, event management, public affairs and public service, real-world work experience in the policy, practice and nonprofit management fields. The program provides interns the chance to increase their knowledge and awareness of the above issues, enhance their understanding of the way nonprofits work, and observe the legislative and administrative processes of our federal government. Interns are fully integrated into staff activities and involved in membership services, development, web content, training delivery and communications work.

AAAED/LEAD Fund interns work out of our office in downtown Washington, D.C., easily accessible by Metro or several bus lines. Internships are for a length of one school semester or the summer. Start and end dates are flexible to accommodate school schedules and we require a 20-hour minimum weekly commitment.

Spring 2016 interns: Internship February 1 to May 27, 2016; Application Deadline January 15, 2016

Summer 2016 interns: Internship June 1 to August 26; Application Deadline April 15, 2016

Some positions are available immediately.

Core Intern Responsibilities

AAAED:

• Assisting with our Web page and Social Media sites
• Writing articles for the AAAED blog
• Tracking legislation and litigation related to key issues
• Monitoring media coverage of EEO/Diversity and Affirmative Action issues
• Attending meetings as assigned
• Helping to coordinate events
• Attending congressional hearings and briefings
• Occasional administrative work
• AAAED Membership services
• Assisting with the AAAED Professional Development and Training Institute

LEAD Fund:

• Conducting on- and off-line research to support LEAD Fund staff
• Occasional administrative work
• Drafting fundraising proposals
• Assisting with the coordination of LEAD Fund trainings, meetings and educational conferences
• Assisting with the publication and dissemination of research studies

Minimum Qualifications

Applicants should have strong writing skills, a desire and ability to work with diverse groups of people, ability to work collaboratively, the ability to multitask, and a strong commitment to social justice issues. They should be enrolled in a four-year college or university or in graduate/professional school. The internship pays a small monthly stipend.

How to Apply

Interested individuals should email a cover letter detailing their interest in The AAAED/LEAD Fund Internships and include a resume and short writing sample (no longer than three pages) to: aaaaexecdir[at]gmail.com.

Please note: We are unable to accept phone inquiries or unscheduled interviews.