Diversity
MIT Commitment
Diversity is important to MIT in general, and to the Department of Architecture in particular. We have made a substantial commitment to outreach and recruitment of diverse students and faculty. Some years ago, a school-wide Diversity Committee was created to monitor and review department efforts, particularly in regard to faculty hiring. After a comprehensive self-study, the department hosted a conference on African-Americans in architecture (see below), began to develop pipeline initiatives in relation to traditionally black universities, and created an Under-Represented Minority Committee to review admission policies for our graduate programs. In 2007, under the leadership of Dean Adele Naude Santos, Dr. Robbin Chapman was hired as Manager of Diversity Recruitment for the School of Architecture and Planning. These are indicators of our intention to move aggressively to improve our existing figure of more than 30% minority and women faculty, in the belief that numerous perspectives and multiple role models are necessary for the future of the architectural profession.
related page: Distinguished African-American Alumni
"The Black Architect's Journey" Conference at MIT
On March 16-17, 2007, The Department of Architecture at MIT hosted a conference "Architecture Race Academe: The Black Architect's Journey." It was organized by Professor Mark Jarzombek and Darian Hendricks, (AR '89). Presentations were given by Janet Helms, Professor at Boston College and the founding director of the Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture at Boston, and by Melvin Mitchell, professor at University of the District of Columbia, and author of The Crisis of the African-American Architect: Conflicting Cultures of Architecture and (Black) Power. Ted Landsmark, Director of Boston Architectural College and a nationally-recognized advocate of African-American issues in academe, will give the keynote address on Friday night. Practitioners who spoke included Robert T. Coles, Charles Bradley and Gordon Kipping. Presentations were also given by Darell Fields (University of Kentucky), Yolande Daniels (Columbia University), Ellen Weiss (Tulane University), Wes Henderson (Florida A&M University), Kelly Charles (African American STEM Academy) and Larry Sass (MIT). The conference did not aim for a comprehensive overview on the subject, but rather asked how one can bring the issue of the under-representation of African-Americans in the field of architecture more into the mainstream of architectural discussions. Its focus was less on the profession, however, and more on academe. The conference was funded by the Department of Architecture, School of Architecture and Planning, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Provost's Office, Chancellor's Office, the Committee on Campus Race Relations, and the Friends of HTC, and from outside of MIT: The National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA).
