Departure of minority staff called a 'problem'

At least 10 professional staff members who are racial minorities have left the University in recent months, prompting the administration to identify a "problem" in its effort to retain a diverse workforce, administration officials said.

Princeton does not track individual employees by race, making it difficult to know the details of hiring and departure decisions.

But interviews with current and former University employees familiar with the departures indicate that a large shuffling of minority staff — black, Asian and Hispanic — has occurred.

While up to 16 minority professionals might have left, one current employee noted that at least 15 other minority staffers have been hired — but some in less senior jobs than those who left.

The most notable departures include: Joann Mitchell, formerly vice provost for administration; Thema Bryant-Davis, former director of the sexual harassment and assault resources office; Sasa Montano, Pace Center for Community Service director; and Fleurette King, coordinator of Dialogue@Princeton, a diversity initiative.

Others who have left Princeton include Kevin Ghorm '99 and Renee Dickson, two members of the development office; Karen Richardson, an admission officer; and Brenda Joyce, Hue-Sue Ahn and Ralph Piper, three counselors from the Counseling Center.

"I think there is a problem, and I don't know what the problem is," acknowledged Associate Provost for Institutional Equity Terri Harris Reed, explaining that it is unclear why Princeton is failing to retain some of its minority professionals.

Current and former employees described the University's "culture" as not consistently supporting the thriving of minority professionals.

"I do feel it's a problem that so many staff of color are leaving. As to people's specific reasons, I don't feel comfortable speaking for them," said Bryant-Davis, who said she left because her husband got a job in California. "But I do think the University should make every effort to recruit and retain a diverse workforce."

While the University portrayed the departures as coincidental, some staffers who left were skeptical.

"Suppose you run a class that had 20 students and 10 of those students were students of color," said one person who left, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "If nine of those students left the class, would you think that's a coincidence?"

A second former staff member, who would only agree to be identified as having worked in Health Services, said: "If people aren't feeling validated or respected in their work, then they'll look for places [in which] they are. The numbers in this [case] are concerning."

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

The staffers declined to elaborate.

Reed, who is black, said she has no reason to believe the departures are anything but coincidental. She noted that everyone who left had reasons unrelated to the minority experience at Princeton, including marriage, admission to graduate school and the transfer of a spouse's job.

Nevertheless, she added, Nassau Hall started to inquire about the departures after queries from The Daily Princetonian. She said no formal investigation has been launched.

Some former staff members suggested that an investigation could yield "interesting" or "informative" results, but refused to pinpoint an issue, person or office to investigate.

Reed, who started her new job one week ago after leaving a position in the Wilson School, said her office has not been notified of an equal opportunity complaint. The ombuds office declined to comment.

Chief Medical Officer Daniel Silverman echoed a sentiment similar to Reed's, saying that the several departures in UHS do not point to a broader issue.

"I don't believe that there is a deeper underlying problem that explains the coincidence of those people who elected to leave UHS during this past year," Silverman said.

He suggested that the departures might be related to reforms he has begun to make in counseling services as his second year at the University gets under way.

"I believe that one of the major reasons [counseling center staff] elected to leave was that we are in the process of making a major paradigm shift," he said.

Silverman said he is pushing counseling services to convert to an "integrated mental health unit" from a "traditional college counseling center."

Silverman said he is "gratified" that many minority counselors applied for the newly-vacated UHS posts and that UHS has "already filled one of the available positions with a therapist of color and [is] working with [human resources] to make offers to two other therapists of color this week."

More to do

Though the University has made progress in attracting and retaining minority professionals in President Tilghman's three years in office, Reed said more work needs to be done.

She explained that there are certain difficult-to-grasp attitudes, perceptions and feelings among staff — not unique to Princeton — that might indirectly create an atmosphere uncomfortable for minorities.

"Initially, when I first got here, there seemed to be morale issues. But then I realized, in my mind, people talked about things they didn't like, but people stayed here," she said. "There was this kind of disconnect."

Reed's comments resonate with Noliwe Rooks, a black professor of African-American Studies.

The University's "culture of civility and culture of cooperation" might welcome minorities, Rooks said. "I've heard people talk about how that masks other kinds of dynamics . . . They're not prepared for the difference between when you're chitchatting and when you're really dealing with people."

Sometimes "Princeton can't be easy" for people of color, Rooks added. "Princeton is an institutional organization that has a culture . . . and you sometimes get the sense that people of color don't always understand where it is we're coming to when we get here."

One important element of a comfortable environment for minorities is a network of peers, Reed said, adding that the departure of one minority can lead others to leave.

"I don't know if it's a lack of a critical mass," she said, positing one explanation for the number of minorities who have left.

"I don't know how many white staff we've lost," she said. "We may not notice it in the same way. With people of color, if you lose two or three, it's huge."

No matter the case, Reed declared that she has a challenge ahead.

"I know that it's not good if we lose people and if people are leaving because they say they don't feel welcome," or they feel they can't move ahead with their careers, Reed said. "We need to figure out why."