SAE hires director of diversity

[Sen's Revenge]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Unfortunately, going outside of the membership to fill positions and create programs is depressingly common nowadays. This happens to be a very fraught and very extreme case.

I also think they would have been better served by hiring someone older. If the racism within the fraternity as a whole really is so prevalent as to create this position, they need someone who will be able to make a dent with alumni as well.

I agree with that.

Originally Posted by DeltaBetaBaby

There are actually two issues, here, in internal vs. external and white guy vs. not white guy, and in both cases, it seems the former may have more credibility with members, but the optics of it may be worse for outside observers.

Which is to say...there are down sides to any combination...at least from the perspectives that can be espoused by people with no actual insight into the candidates and hiring process (i.e. us).

White guy member: they aren't really interested in change
Non-white guy member: they are tokenizing and putting the responsibility for diversity on their non-white members.
White guy non-member: they aren't even interested in diverse hiring
Non-white guy non-member: magical negro

Ultimately, I hope they chose the person who will affect the most change, and that it works out well for both SAE and Ms. Canty.

That's a good way to look at it. I wish the best for her also.

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

I debated about posting this at all, as I was pretty sure that there would be those who would nitpick and be unhappy, no matter what SAE did.

I am neither happy nor unhappy. I am having a conversation just like you are. I honestly wasn't thinking of SAE at all until this was posted. The problem is that they are trying to turn this hire INTO a public relations solution, and that deserves to be critiqued.

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

I don't know if they "exhausted every avenue," but I have several friends in student affairs who are active SAE alumni. I can ask if they even were interested (most are leaning towards the deanery track).

I would be curious to know the response. If this thread dies out, feel free to PM me if their answer is intriguing.