PALANA selects new residents

Author: Katie Flagg

Dispelling rumors of an unfair selection process for PALANA (Pan-African, Latino, Asian, Native American) residents, assistant in academic administration Jennifer Herrera said on Tuesday that racial bias did not play a role in the selection of PALANA residents for the 2006-2007 academic year. Herrera's confirmation, which followed an e-mail sent last week to current PALANA residents, was sought in response to voiced concerns from students that the selection process this year denied a wide breadth of students the opportunity to live in PALANA.

According to Herrera and senior advisor in institutional diversity Leroy Nesbitt, this year's selection process for the house did not differ in any monumental ways from previous years. The Office of Institutional Diversity (OID) solicited nominations from faculty and staff who work directly with diverse groups of students. Applications were also sent to students who approached administrative officials previously in the year indicating interest in the house, and Herrera mentioned that the office targeted students who had been involved in PALANA events throughout the year or who had been recommended "by word of mouth."

"Basically what PALANA has is a network of people that have worked with us - faculty, staff and students - and we tried to alert all of those people to give us names of potential students who they think would be good to live in our house," said Nesbitt. Nesbit stressed that PALANA was looking for students who were interested in living in a multicultural environment, demonstrated an academic interest in diversity, and students who desired involvement in PALANA programming events.

Nine students were ultimately chosen by a committee of four reviewers, and as Herrera stressed in an e-mail sent last week to current PALANA residents, these applicants were chosen "without regard to race or ethnicity."

As an academic interest house, Herrera and Nesbitt noted that, traditionally, applicants have not been solicited by all-student e-mails. While an open house for interested students was held and publicized last year, Herrera said that the previous low turnout had not justified the expense of paying for advertising for the event.

Students and current residents have expressed mixed feelings for this process.

"As a resident of PALANA I understand OID's attempt to recruit the most committed and academically qualified students to apply to live in the house," said current resident Lily Hamburger '07.5. "However, I feel strongly that all Middlebury students be informed of the opportunity to apply to live here."

Ultimately, however, despite the now-quelled rumors, most current PALANA residents have voiced faith in the process.

"PALANA is an academic interest house," said Brian Pacheco '07. "The Spanish house does not send out e-mails to all students, only to Spanish majors and those who have taken Spanish classes. PALANA is trying to do something similar, but with nothing clearly marked as "diversity" the selection process becomes harder."

He continued, "Some qualified students may have been overlooked this year, and that is a shame, but it was never a malicious intention."

On the whole, administrators and students have expressed optimism for PALANA's upcoming residential experience and programming plans. Nesbitt, for one, noted that he hopes to see PALANA work more closely with faculty in the future, foster continued Deliberative Dialogues and continue to undertake scholarship and promote the academic exploration of diversity. He noted, of course, that the residents who ultimately live in Carr Hall, where PALANA is housed, will greatly influence the year's plans.

"Each year the house is very much flavored by the students who live in it," he said.

Despite widespread satisfaction from current and past residents, in answering inquiries from The Middlebury Campus, these residents did express concerns that PALANA remains widely perceived as the "minority house."

"I am not going to give the racial breakdown of the house," said Brian Pacheco '07, "as the goal of PALANA is not to fill a quota. PALANA is not the "minority" house, rather a house filled with nine student who have a strong and overwhelming commitment to diversity."