daily nebraskan
monday, Octobers, 1980
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page 2
Affirmative action officer does work oine -
Dy Patti Gallagher
Last Wednesday was the
26th anniversary of the
Supreme Court decision
mandating integrated
schools. Hie Civil Rights
Act, which established the
Equal Opportunity Commis
sion to enforce fair employ
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ment practices, was passed
in 1964.
In 1965, President
Lyndon B. Johnson created,
by executive order, the re
quirement for all federal
contractors to have and ful
fil written affirmative
action plans.
The first affirmative
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action officer at NU arrived
In 1970. The first written
affirmative action plan for
the university was presented
in 1974.
And perhaps more signi
ficantly, an Affirmative
Action office for the State
of Nebraska was created
July 1,1979.
The delay in creating and
implementing an affirmative
action plan both at the uni
versity and in the state is
due in part to the small
minority composition of the
state, according to Brad
Munn, UNL affirmative
action officer.
Munn was interviewed re
cently, in observance of
Affirmative Action Week,
Oct. 6-10, to pause and look
at UNL's problems, progress
and promises in affirmative
action.
Much of the progress in
Munn's one-man, one
secretary office is accomp
lished on individual basis, he
said. Gaining a victory for
affirmative action might re
quire Munn to go to an
employer one-on-one to re
solve a case of wage discrim
ination between a male and
a female.
Or it may require a few
phone calls to provide a
handicapped person with
transportation. Or it may
require some "persuasive
talking and table pound
ing," Munn said, to see that
the university adheres to its
affirmative action plan.
Much of Munn's job in
volves cases concerning hir
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ing of administrative and
faculty personnel, he said.
In the past three months, a
black woman filed a major
line administrative position
and the agricultural depart
ment hired two racial
minority faculty members,
but the numbers still are not
satisfactory, Munn said.
This is due in part, Munn
said, to a lack of qualified
minorities available to hire,
and partly because some of
those in hiring positions are
not truly committed to
affirmative action.
"Some of the people
who make most of the
decisions haven't done an
about-face," Munn said.
They have a verbal commit
ment to affirmative action,
he said, that is not carried
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out in hiring practices.
One insurance against
discriminatory hiring was
initiated this year, Munn
said. Now included on each
new employee's Personnel
Action Form is a portion
stating that affirmative
action and equal opportun
ity guidelines have been
followed in the hiring of
that individual.
Munn must approve the
form before the person is
hired. He has yet to reject
one, he said.
The track record is not
impressive " as far as the
number of minority persons
employed by UNL, Munn
said. The atmosphere of the
state-hat some would
call lily white"-is one
factor hurting minority hir
ing, he said.
"For some racial minorit
ies this isn't a place they
would like to be. The con
cerns of minorities are not a
part of the daily mealtime
conversation," he said.
The. university popula
tion consists primarily of
persons from two metro
politan cities and rural areas
-none of which are very
racially diverse-and the
composition of the faculty
and administration reflects
that, Munn said.
However, the affirmative
action, plan requires the
number of minority faculty
and administration people
employed to be proportion
al to the number available
nationwide, he said.
Another insurance for
affirmative action, Munn
said, is a requirement that
all departments submit year
ly goals and timetables to
the Affirmative Action
office.
Munn then monitors
those goals to determine
whether they are met. If
they are not?
"I can't urge a depart
ment to hire someone who's
not available," he said. And
affirmative action is not a
law, he said, but an execu
tive order.
Also causing low statist
ical representation of minor
ities, Munn said, is a lack of
openings for all persons. As
positions become vacant, he
said, many are eliminated.
For each minority per
son hired, two may leave, he
said.
In recognition of Affirm
ative Action Week, which
was declared by Gov.
Charles Thone, UNL's
Affirmative Action office is
sponsoring a luncheon Mon
day . featuring William
English in the Nebraska
Union.
English is director of
equal opportunity for Data
Control Corp. of Minnea
polis.
No other activities are
planned for the week, Munn
said, because "affirmative
action is an ongoing process,
not something you focus on
one week a year "
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