New BCC vice president will champion diversity

James Bennett was frustrated by the nationwide media attention that descended on Bellevue Community College after a racially insensitive math problem written by one of its professors became public last April.

"It hurt," said Bennett, who has served as an instructor, counselor and dean during his 28 years at the school. "It was concerning because we do not get that level of attention on all the positive efforts we were doing here."

Bennett, 59, has seen BCC increase its efforts to raise racial awareness during his tenure.

Now, he has the opportunity to lead those efforts.

Last month, Bennett was named the first vice president of equity and pluralism. Bennett's appointment makes BCC only the second community college in the state to have an executive-level official whose focus is diversity and race issues, according to the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges. The other community college is Columbia Basin in Pasco.

Bennett, who is the former dean of instruction, will supervise such efforts as hiring more faculty of color, promoting racial awareness through seminars for student and faculty, or recruiting more minority students.

He also said he expects to be held accountable for whatever BCC officials say they will do about diversity.

But the challenge, Bennett said, is getting people to use his office.

For student Terron Watson, who is vice president of finance and communications in the student government, the BCC administration has not done enough to promote Bennett's new position.

"I bet you that only two out of 20 students ... know who Bennett is," Watson said.

Still, Bennett, who acknowledged Watson's concerns, plans to reach out to students in the future through seminars and leadership programs.

Cora Nixon, chairwoman of the Diversity Caucus at BCC, was pleased to see Bennett's appointment.

But "it's not the end-all," she said. "It's an ongoing effort ... to fight institutional racism."

With more than 18,000 students enrolled for fall quarter, 32 percent of whom are minorities, issues of race and diversity are prominent at BCC.

In April, BCC sustained a barrage of bad publicity after a teacher wrote a math problem with a character named "Condoleezza" throwing a watermelon off a federal building. The math teacher, who gave a public apology, was suspended and is currently appealing his suspension.

Although Bennett's appointment comes just five months after the math-problem controversy, BCC spokesman Bob Adams said the new position had been discussed a year earlier.

In addition, Bennett said programs that BCC started in the 1990s helped school officials deal with controversy.

The program "Courageous Conversations" provides a forum for BCC staff, faculty and students to discuss race issues in weekly meetings. A seminar called "Beyond Diversity" also trains BCC staff and faculty to be more racially aware.

Such programs have won BCC awards over the years. Just last month, Minority Inc., a nonprofit organization that promotes diversity in education, named BCC one of the "Nation's Leading Colleges and Universities Committed to Diversity."

But even with all the awards, Bennett understands there is still work to be done to eradicate institutional racism.

"It's a learning process," he said.

Manuel Valdes: 206-464-3347 or mvaldes@seattletimes.com