---New Hampshire: Diversity at Dartmouth---
Dartmouth College President James Wright announced that the College will immediately implement several major initiatives recommended in a recent report by the College's Committee on Institutional Diversity and Equity. Included among the initiatives are creation of a senior level administrative position to oversee implementation of diversity initiatives, creation of a Council on Diversity, and a re-evaluation of the College's mission statement. "One of the College's top priorities is to support and enhance the diversity of the Dartmouth community," Wright said in a letter announcing the initiatives to students, faculty and staff. "Dartmouth must sustain a culture of acceptance and inclusion for students, faculty and staff from all walks of life. Doing so strengthens the educational experience we provide," he added. Wright announced that Ozzie Harris, currently Director of the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action, will assume the senior administrative position of Special Assistant to the President for Institutional Diversity and Equity. In this capacity, Harris will chair the new Council on Diversity, which will include broad representation by senior college officers, faculty and students. The Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action will now be known as the Office for Institutional Diversity and Equity. Wright also directed the Dean of the Faculty to review hiring and retention of faculty of color and to encourage faculty discussion on ways diversity can be more fully integrated into the curriculum. For more information, send an email to Tamara.L.Steinert@Dartmouth.edu.

---School segregation on the rise ---
Almost a half century after the U.S. Supreme Court concluded that southern school segregation was unconstitutional and "inherently unequal," a new study from The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University shows that segregation continued to intensify throughout the 1990s. The study, "Schools More Separate: Consequences of a Decade of Resegregation," by Gary Orfield with Nora Gordon, analyzes statistics from the 1998-99 school year, the latest data available from, the National Center of Education Statistics' Common Core of Education Statistics. Researchers found that much of the progress for black students since the 1960s was eliminated during a decade which brought three Supreme Court decisions limiting desegregation remedies. The data also shows that Latinos, the nation's largest minority, have become increasingly isolated for the last 30 years, with segregation surpassing that of blacks, and the rapid growth of suburban minorities has not produced integrated schools. This resegregation is happening despite the nation's growing diversity, in particular the rapid growth of 245 percent in the Latino student population over the last 30 years. According to Orfield, co-director of The Civil Rights Project, resegregation is contributing to a growing gap in quality between the schools being attended by white students and those serving a large proportion of minority students. "Though our schools will be our first major institutions to experience non-white majorities," says Orfield, "our research consistently shows that schools are becoming increasingly segregated and are offering students vastly unequal educational opportunities." Other key findings include:

-- Steady resegregation occurring nationally and in the South
70.2 percent of the nation's black students now attend predominantly minority schools (minority enrollment over 50 percent). Although the south remains more integrated than it was before the civil rights revolution, it is moving backward at an accelerating rate. In the decade between 1988 to 1998, the percent of Black students in majority White schools decreased steadily from 43.5 percent to 32.7 percent.

-- Latino segregation growing
The most dramatic trends in segregation affect Latino students. In 1968, 23.1 percent of Latino students attended schools with a minority enrollment of 90-100 percent. In 1998, that number rose to 36.6 percent of Latino students.

-- Whites most segregated in schools
According to the data, in spite of the rapid increase of minority enrollment in schools, white students remain the most segregated from other races in their schools. Whites on average attend schools where more than 80 percent of the students are white and less than 20 percent of the students are from all of the other racial and ethnic groups combined. Even in the District of Columbia, where fewer than one student in 20 was white, the typical white student was in a class with a slight majority of whites. Blacks and Latinos attend schools with 53 percent to 55 percent students of their own group. For more information on this study, contact Gary Orfield at 617-496-4824, Johanna Wald at 617-496-3229, or Christine Sanni at 617-496-5873.

---'Journey to a Hate Free Millennium---
"Journey to a Hate Free Millennium" is the inspirational, award-winning documentary that seeks solutions to the horrible hate crimes that have become frequent events in our daily lives. Produced by New Light Media, the stirring and powerful film covers the vicious murder of Matthew Shepard, who lost his life as the result of a gay hate crime; the murder of African American James Byrd, Jr. and the shootings by high school students at Columbine High School. On July 27th, at a 7:00 PM screening, "Journey to a Hate Free Millennium" will be seen in Austin, Texas for the first time when New Light Media producer Brent Scarpo serves as the keynote speaker to kick off the Out Youth Western Regional Conference (July 27 - 29) on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. Since 1999, the documentary has been seen on more than 300 college and high school campuses nationwide. For more information concerning "Journey to a Hate Free Millennium" contact: Sarah McMullen (512) 323-6691/smcmullen@earthlink.net.

----Diversity at Compaq---
Compaq Computer Corporation announced two initiatives that reinforce its commitment to diversity within its reseller and partner base in North America. First, as an extension of the Minority Partner Program launched in 1994 for resellers selling to the Federal government, the Compaq Business Partner Program for Diversity Partners is now open to minority-owned technology companies that sell to the education and commercial marketplace as well as the federal, state and local government. In addition, Compaq created its first Diversity Partner Advisory Council to strengthen its business practices with minority-owned firms. The Compaq Business Partner Program for Diversity Partners is open to minority-owned technology companies that sell to the education and commercial marketplace as well as the federal, state and local government. More information about becoming a member of the Compaq Business Partner Program for Diversity Partners is available at http://www.compaq.com/resellers/.

FYI --- Take a look at UnityFirst.com's newly refreshed web site! On the site find additional information and news for you to use! Check it out! www.UnityFirst.com.