A Critique

The Women's Equity Action League (WEAL), the Kennedy School of Government's nemesis since it filed a complaint against the school last fall, resumed its crusade for affirmative action this week; but the signals it gave off seemed mixed.

In a three-page memorandum sent to the Department of Labor (DOL), the nationwide women's group downplayed recent hiring moves that the K-School has argued demonstrate its commitment to affirmative action.

Specifically, the WEAL brief contained a point-by-point rebuttal to the school's recent affirmative action "progress report," which had stressed the appointments of women and minorities in several non-tenured positions.

Arguing that the school's alleged "signs of progress" were "irrelevant" or "a misrepresentation of date," WEAL cited evidence indicating that most of the new instructors had previous ties to the school. Those connections that the K-School had not significantly improved its search processes but instead was relying on the "old-boy network," WEAL's memorandum stated.

But testifying before a Senate committee several days after issuing the rebuttal, WEAL seemed to have reversed course. Carol B. Grossman, WEAL's president, told the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee that WEAL's legal complaint had pressured the school into making "improvements" that would not have come otherwise.

Grossman made that argument in an effort to persuade the committed that current affirmative action regulations and programs have increased opportunities for women and minorities and should not be scrapped or weakened.

But Ira A. Jackson '70, associate dean of the school, denied that the school's recent hirings have stemmed from the original WEAL complaint to the DOL, saying, "We are doing a better job because it's right, and because it's the law." He also criticized WEAL for downplaying the school's progress in the past year and stressed that the school has reported all its hirings properly.