As American society inevitably becomes more racially and ethnically diverse, what is the best way for colleges and universities to adapt to these demographic and cultural changes? At New Mexico Highlands University, this question is at the forefront of a storm of controversy about the university’s plan to become “the nation’s premier Hispanic-serving institution”:

[NMHU President] Aragon’s appointment in October 2004 was supposed to mark a new era at the institution, which had faced accreditation issues, funding shortfalls and declining enrollments in recent years. The decisions Aragon made during his brief tenure, however, have been marred by criticism -- much of it from white faculty members who’ve argued that their careers have been shortchanged in favor of a blind quest to promote diversity. . . .

Aragon chose not to renew the contracts or to provide tenure to two respected white professors, who have both sued the institution. The Board of Trustees has paid $250,000 to settle one of the lawsuits, according to local press reports. The American Association of University Professors censured the institution earlier this year as a result of the faculty tenure and summary dismissal issues.

The article describes that as a result of these initial developments, the university’s board placed Aragon on leave but then, Aragon’s supporters with the support of the Hispanic community in the area, were successful in getting a court injunction preventing the university from terminating his contract. Most recently, the university’s board of regents voted to end his employment and offer him a buyout.

Obviously I don’t know all the details and issues about this particular situation. However, my two cents is that -- at the risk of sounding naive -- it’s not a mutually exclusive proposition for the university to achieve its goal serving the Hispanic community and upholding academic due process and tenure-decision fairness at the same time. In other words, I think the university can do both.

Inevitably, there are growing numbers of young and talented Latino/Hispanic faculty members who the university can aggressively pursue and hire. But in the meantime, they should take care to retain existing faculty whose work in whatever fields of study contribute to the academic strengthen and excellence of the university, which in turn will ultimately help to attract more Latino students and faculty.

At the same time, the mission of the university to serve the Hispanic community can and should be paramount and in marginal tenure decisions. That is, in the same way that universities are allowed to consider race as a factor in admissions decisions, being Hispanic or at least demonstrating a clear commitment to serving Hispanic students should also be a legitimate factor in tenure decisions, or at borderline ones.

Are these two strategies of promoting diversity while retaining excellence contradictory? Absolutely not. They only require a clear set of standards and procedures that are universally applied. In the end, I think that’s what everyone is looking for.