Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 27, 1994 TAG: 9402270050
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
Gov. George Allen has come under fire for his decision to leave the University of Virginia's governing board without minority representation for the first time in 16 years.
"This kind of turns back the clock," said Rick Turner, the school's dean of African-American affairs. "You don't make that kind of mistake in 1994. It's not even a mistake. It's an act of insensitivity."
Allen, a Republican, on Friday replaced three members of the school's board of trustees, all of them Democratic supporters. They include Freddie W. Nicholas Sr., the board's only black member.
The first black member of the Charlottesville school's board was appointed by Republican Gov. John Dalton in 1978. Every governor since has ensured that a black person held at least one of the 16 seats - until Allen.
The university has struggled in its relationship with black students, who make up 9.3 percent of the school's 18,073 students. Turner said the university retains 97 percent of its black students into their second year and graduates 75 percent.
"People are not going to believe me when I tell them about our retention and graduation rates when they find out our decision-makers are predominantly white males," he said.
Rafiq Jeffries, 20, a member of the Black Student Alliance, said his group "thinks this is a slap in the face to all black students at the university and parents who send them here because we are not represented in the power structure of the university."
"I'm furious," said Kimberly Warden, a junior. "Though I can't say I'm completely surprised. Allen is not your most multicultural kind of person."
Warden said the school's race relations are under an "accepted tension" and that the lack of black representation on the board won't help.
"Unintentionally or intentionally, he sent a tremendous message," Warden said. "The board of visitors should reflect the interests of the students. It seems like we're never going to get out of this good-old-boy tradition."
Allen's press secretary, Ken Stroupe, said the criticism is unfair.
"We're in the first month of his administration," Stroupe said, "and these are the first appointments that we have made to this board."
Stroupe said Allen has named a black and the first Latino to his Cabinet and picked minorities for panels that oversee everything from transportation to technology.
"You have to look beyond the one board and look at the efforts of the administration thus far, and I think they're unprecedented," he said. "We're certainly making an effort to represent every facet of Virginia's population."
by CNB