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Speeches and reflections from NACME's leader
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Here you'll find collected articles, speeches and comments from
Dr.
John B. Slaughter, NACME's president and CEO:
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2004: Year-End Report
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" The commitment of the universities,
eight of them not NACME partners, is a
positiveindication of the growing interest
higher education is showing for improving
its performance in educating and graduating
minority engineers. "
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The National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, Inc. (NACME) celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2004, moved its headquarters to White Plains, launched a block grant scholarship program, restructured its fundraising arm, initiated a strategic planning effort that will serve as a guide for its future, and recovered from the financial deficits that had plagued the organization for the past two and one-half years. Overall, it was a very good year.
The total number of baccalaureate degrees in engineering showed steady growth in the decade from 1975 to 1985, declined precipitously from 1985 to 1990, remained relatively steady for the next 10 years before increasing after 2000. Even so, the number of bachelor degrees in engineering in 2003, 75,031, is nearly 4 percent less than the peak in 1985. Underrepresented minorities constituted 11.3 percent of the total-one-third of their presence in the college-age population. This discrepancy is a measure of the gap NACME is attempting to address.
The seeds of the problem of underrepresentation are easy to discern. Of the nearly 600,000 minority high school graduates in 2003, only about 35,000 of them, 6 percent, had taken the prerequisite math and science courses to even consider engineering study and 24,000, 4 percent, could be judged fully qualified. Of this overall cohort, about 8,500 of them will ultimately receive an engineering degree. The dramatic loss of potential engineering talent due to inadequate preparation represents a challenge that NACME must confront if it is to fulfill its mission.
Although the number of minority engineering graduates increased by slightly over 500 from 2002 to 2003, their percentage share of the total number of engineering graduates declined, another indication that we are losing ground in our march toward parity.
NACME is also greatly concerned about the significantly lower retention rate of underrepresented minority engineering students as compared to that of their white and Asian peers. Approximately 40 percent of entering minority students nationwide persist to graduation. The retention rate for white and Asian students is in the range of 70 percent. Reducing this disparity is one of our major objectives.
The reasons for the difference in graduation rates are many. They include the relatively poor academic preparation of many minority students and the lack of adequate financial resources to complete their studies. On this latter point, it has been estimated that a $1,000 shift from grant to loan can have as much as a 17 percent negative impact on retention for low-income minority students. NACME grants, therefore, are important in the effort to improve retention for this group of students.
The fact that the proportions of women and minorities in entering freshman classes continues to decline or, at best, remains flat from year to year, is not a harbinger of good news for those working to improve diversity in engineering. According to the National Science Board, the policy-setting body of the National Science Foundation, the representation of women in the engineering workforce only increased from 8.6 percent to 10 percent during the decade from 1993 to 2003. As for African Americans, Latinos and American Indians, who constitute a quarter of the nation's population, their presence in the engineering workforce, 8 percent, has remained relatively flat for the 10-year period. If NACME is to fulfill its mission and achieve its goal of parity in the engineering workforce, we must foster a dramatic increase in the production of minority engineering graduates. The recognition of that reality drives our programs and activities.
Any discussion of the events of the fiscal year 2003-04 must begin with the highly successful 30th Anniversary Gala. The fundraiser, which was launched with the goal of raising $1,000,000 in cash, exceeded that figure by $200,000. In addition, it attracted gifts totaling more than $3,500,000 in in-kind contributions of scholarships from 22 universities. The combination of cash and scholarship grants makes it possible for us to achieve a 40 percent increase in the number of scholarships NACME will award in FY 2005-a total of 700. The commitment of the universities, eight of them not NACME partners, is a positive indication of the growing interest higher education is showing for improving its performance in educating and graduating minority engineers.
The Gala provided NACME with a forum for honoring some of its principal founders. These included ExxonMobil for its 30 years of exemplary support, Dr. Percy Pierre for his role in guiding NACME during its beginning years, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for providing the seminal funding for the establishment of the organization. Bill Cosby provided the entertainment and reminded the assemblage of more than 600 guests of the importance of strong parental guidance for our youth.
We could not have planned and carried out such a successful event without the contributions of loaned executives and the generous donations of goods and services to be auctioned and raffled from our board companies. We are grateful to all of those who made NACME's 30th anniversary celebration such a memorable event.
I look forward to an even better year in fiscal year 2005. I am grateful to the men and women of NACME for their selfless contributions to the successes of this past year. It is a privilege to serve with them. I also wish to thank the members of the Board of Directors for their help, counsel and many contributions to NACME. I am honored by the opportunity to work with you in service to a mission that we all believe in so deeply. I wish to thank those board members who retired from the board during the year and I especially wish to express my gratitude and immense respect to outgoing Chair Mike Morley whose support and friendship have made my job all the more enjoyable.
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A New Beginning - 10/15/04
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" America can no longer afford to have
large groups of persons underrepresented in
critical fields such as engineering;
NACME is poised to do its part. "
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This is an exciting time for NACME. We entered our new fiscal year on September 1 full
of enthusiasm as a result of the many successes of the previous year, which included a
wonderful 30th anniversary gala, important new alliances with universities
and corporations and the relocation of our headquarters to White Plains, NewYork. We
have chosen the phrase, OPENING THE PATHWAYS TO ENGINEERING, to describe
our activities as we work to fulfill our mission. With the guidance of our Board of
Directors, we have defined a new set of strategies to guide our efforts to enhance
opportunities and increase the participation of underrepresented minorities in engineering.
We are strengthening our programs, from pre-college to the workplace, in order to involve
larger numbers of students, schools and corporations in the NACME family. And we are
experiencing success.
NACME expects to increase the number of students receiving scholarships this year to 700,
an increase of 40 percent. Among the things that please us most is the tremendous interest
being expressed by colleges and universities to become affiliated with us. We are also
launching new activities to reach middle-school children to inform them about engineering
and, hopefully, motivate more of them to study math and science so that they can prepare
themselves for engineering study. And we are exploring new ways to provide diversity
training and cultural awareness services to corporations, government agencies and
educational institutions. All of us at NACME are looking forward to the future and the
opportunities it holds for us.
NACME is convinced that our work is more important than ever. The need for superior
technologically prepared talent is increasing even as the numbers of young people choosing
to study science and engineering in our nation's college and universities are not.
With the growing requirements for national defense, homeland security, affordable and
clean energy, infrastructure revitalization and many other vital national imperatives,
we need to develop all of our human resources to address them. America can no longer
afford to have large groups of persons underrepresented in critical fields such as
engineering; NACME is poised to do its part.
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2004 Bueche Award Presented to John Brooks Slaughter
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These remarks were delivered on
October 3, 2004, during the National
Academy of Engineering (NAE) Annual
Meeting by Dr. Slaughter in
accepting the 2004 Bueche Award
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"I wish to express my appreciation to Dean Terry King and his associates from the College of Engineering at my alma mater, Kansas State University. Their persistence and tenacity made this award to me possible. I also want to thank everyone who wrote letters and supported my candidacy so earnestly. Most of all I want to thank my wife, Bernice, and my children, John Jr. and Jacqueline, whose sacrifices, support, and love have sustained me throughout my professional career. Bernice has been my cornerstone, my fountain of inspiration, and my unending source of strength; I dedicate this award to her.
I had the privilege of getting to know Art Bueche during the last few years of his life. He was extremely helpful and supportive when I took on the responsibilities of the National Science Foundation, and he was a wise and generous mentor. I cannot begin to express my humility as I receive this award recognizing his contributions as a statesman and an advocate for science and technology.
It is also with a sense of humility that I join the ranks of distinguished engineers and public servants who received the Arthur M. Bueche Award in the past. I am truly honored to have my name added to the list of luminaries from our profession who preceded me. Although I hardly deserve to be in their company, I am grateful to the National Academy of Engineering for this honor.
I am not joking when I say I was the first black engineer I ever met. African Americans and Latinos in Topeka, Kansas in the 1940s and 1950s were hardly encouraged to achieve in science or engineering. Nor was Topeka a city with much that could be characterized as scientific or technological, with the exceptions of Menninger's for the former and the Santa Fe Railroad for the latter. Children in Topeka were unlikely to have neighbors or uncles who were scientists or engineers to inspire them to take courses in math and science or introduce them to the mysteries of nature and machines. Consequently, it was uncommon for youngsters, especially minority youngsters, to want to become engineers. My hardworking, loving parents kindled and kept alive my spark of interest in engineering. They kept it from being snuffed out by the indifference and low expectations of a public school system whose leaders were consumed with defending at all costs the tradition of segregated schools. This year, we have been reminded of the demise of legally-sanctioned segregated schools as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka.
My eyes were opened to the opportunities and excitement of engineering at Kansas State University. In 1956, I was the only African American graduate in engineering at the university. On a recent visit to the campus, I was pleasantly surprised to meet a large group of African American and Latino engineering students who are enjoying their experiences, are supported and encouraged by a dedicated faculty and staff, and are succeeding. Although much remains to be done to eliminate disparities in access and opportunities, the same thing is happening on many campuses across the country.
My organization, the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME), is working to increase the number of educational institutions committed to improving their capacity to identify, enroll, educate, retain, and graduate minority engineering students. In 2003, NACME joined with the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences, MIT, Stanford, IBM, and DuPont in filing an amicus brief in the University of Michigan affirmative-action case before the U.S. Supreme Court. The statement expressed our conviction that "access to the educational opportunities available in our nation's selective universities is essential if underrepresented minorities are to have an opportunity to contribute to strengthening America's scientific and technological capabilities." The statement went on to say, "We can no longer afford the potential loss of creativity, productivity, and talent that results from policies and practices that inhibit the participation of any of our country's most valuable resource-our youth."
Although I am encouraged by the number of students in engineering from historically underrepresented minorities, I remain discouraged by the small number of minority faculty members in science and engineering. The argument often advanced by colleges and universities that there aren't enough minority Ph.D.s in science and engineering in the pipeline is not as tenable as it was a few years ago. Unfortunately, only about 1 percent of engineering faculty nationwide are African American or Latino, a situation that has not improved in the past 20 years, even though the number of black and brown Ph.D.s in science and engineering increases every year and more and more of them are available and fully prepared for faculty appointments.
Nevertheless, I am hopeful-no, I am confident-that the American higher education community will accelerate its efforts to create a more inclusive and pluralistic environment. Then, and only then, can it assist our nation to live up to its promise and ascend to a higher and nobler plateau, a place where both excellence and equity reside.
Thank you!"
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Thirty Years of Achievement
NACME's 30th Anniversary Gala address
May 4, 2004 - New York
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" Let us enjoy tonight, but let us not forget that
there are steep hills to climb if NACME is to fulfill
its mission. "
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Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! Thank you for joining us at
this gala celebration of NACME's 30th anniversary. We hope you
will enjoy the evening.
The video you have been watching tells the story of a
non-profit organization which, for three decades, has been
devoted to creating opportunity for many who have been
overlooked or who have found it difficult to gain entry to
engineering study and, ultimately, the profession.
We are above all, a learning organization, a
knowledge-based organization. One of my wife's favorite expressions
is that knowledge is man's best friend while ignorance is his
worst enemy. Our goal is to expose young people to an important
and rewarding career.
We are proud to acknowledge that with the strong financial support
of corporations, foundations, universities and individuals, we
have been able to provide more than $100 million in scholarships
to approximately 18,000 students at 160 colleges and
universities since our founding. And while we take satisfaction
in these numbers, we must do much more if we are to achieve the
goal of parity for African American, American Indian and
Latino participants in the field of engineering. With your
continued support, we will do so.
As a result of what those of you present have done, I am pleased
to announce that with the proceeds of this gala we will be able
to add 200 new scholarships and, thereby, expand by nearly 40%
the roster of NACME scholars. You deserve our applause and
gratitude for your commitment and beneficence.
It is fitting, in this year during which we celebrate the
50th anniversary of Brown vs.
The Board of Education of Topeka,
to recognize the seminal contribution of that landmark case to
what we have been able to accomplish at NACME. We are pleased
that in the audience tonight are Mr. & Mrs. Hilton Clark, the
son and daughter-in-law of Dr. Kenneth Clark, the psychologist
whose riveting testimony using black and white dolls was pivotal
in the court's decision.
Let us enjoy tonight, but let us not forget that there are steep
hills to climb if NACME is to fulfill its mission. Our
universities are at the front line and they are being buffeted
by those who want them to eliminate programs that encourage
and support the entry and success of underrepresented
minority students. And the cost of education is escalating,
making it more difficult for many to afford a college
education. We need your continued support, now, more than ever
before.
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Creating Your Future
Syracuse University College of Engineering and Computer Science
Undergraduate Convocation Commencement address
May 8, 2004 - Syracuse, New York
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" I come before you today with some
trepidation, however. I know that it is
a time-honored obligation of commencement
speakers to offer advice to graduates, to
offer 'some words to the wise.' But I
remember that Fat Albert once said, 'A word
to the wise ain't necessary; it's the stupid
ones who need the advice.' "
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Chancellor Shaw, Dean Spina, members of the platform party,
faculty, families, friends and, above all, distinguished graduates:
it is truly an honor for me to be a part of this occasion in
which we celebrate the 2004 commencement of the College of
Engineering and Computer Science. I have the highest regard
for this institution, its leadership, its faculty and students.
I count Chancellor Shaw among that group of educators and leaders
I most admire. I have followed his career over the past 25
years and have been proud to be his colleague. I wish him and
Mary Ann well on this, the eve of a new phase of their lives.
Above all, I am delighted to be with you all today.
I come before you today with some trepidation, however. I know
that it is a time-honored obligation of commencement speakers to
offer advice to graduates, to offer "some words to the wise."
But I remember that Fat Albert once said, "A word to the wise
ain't necessary; it's the stupid ones who need the advice."
I am also mindful that a commencement speaker is like the body at
an Irish wake. You are necessary for the occasion but nobody
expects you to say much. And there was John Kenneth Galbraith's
wry observation on his own role as a commencement speaker when
he said, "There must be a speech. Speeches in our culture are
the vacuum that fills a vacuum."
I'm quite sure there are no stupid persons here who need my advice,
but since I am here and still alive, I'll offer a few words to the
wise anyhow -- just to fill the vacuum.
Recently, I read an essay by President Charles M. Vest,
president of MIT. In the essay, Dr. Vest, who is also stepping
down from his presidency after a remarkable period of
distinguished leadership, shared his thoughts about some of the
things he has learned during the fourteen years he has served
in that position. In a style all-too-seldom found in the writing
of engineers, Chuck Vest elegantly and eloquently described
the principal concepts and precepts that he had come to
understand, appreciate and hold dear during his presidency.
They include Excellence, Perseverance, Boldness and Optimism.
I agree with President Vest that the "four horsemen,"
Excellence, Perseverance, Boldness and Optimism, about which he
wrote, are equally valuable lessons for each of us in this room
to learn more about and, if necessary, adopt for our
own lives.
A commitment to excellence is unquestionably important.
You graduates, in particular, must recognize that the future
is what you will make it to be. It depends upon what you do
today and every day and tomorrow thereafter. Your destination
in life will be determined by your acts and not by your
intentions. The Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, reminded us
that, "Character is destiny." Aristotle similarly pointed out
that, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then," he
said," is not an act but a habit."
As far back as 724 BC, the poet, Hesiod, wrote about excellence.
He told us that, "Badness you can get easily, in quantity. The
road is smooth and it lies close by. But in front of excellence
the immortal gods have put sweat, and long and steep is the way
to it. But when you get to the top it becomes easy, even though
it is hard."
I ask you to look ahead 30 years, which is roughly the
period during which most of you will make your greatest
contributions, and define a world that you would like to exist
at that time. And after establishing in your mind what you wish
to be true at that time, project yourself back to the present
to determine what you must do now to help make it come true.
There is none among you, I am sure, who will not wish that
30 years from now we will be members of a global community
that is at peace-at peace with our international neighbors,
at peace with nature, at peace with ourselves. We will have
all wished that our world society will have conquered
life-threatening diseases such as cancer, AIDS and Alzheimer's.
We will have learned to create, produce and co-exist
with technological advances in such a way that they contribute
to our health, our comfort and our productivity rather than
creating risks to our environment, our security and our
privacy.
I am sure that it is your hope that by 2034 the scourge of
the drug culture will be far behind us and that illiteracy
and ignorance will be antiquated concepts. We will have
confronted the need for clean air, abundant water and
inexpensive energy and addressed them in ways that make
it possible for all to avail themselves of these
life-sustaining sources.
Perhaps the most important thing you can hope for in the
future is for a world in which harmony exists among people,
where apartheid, war, terrorism and slavery are dim reminders
of a rapidly receding past. It will be a time in which
racism, sexism and homophobia have been replaced with
tolerance, understanding and acceptance.
But if this is the type of world you wish to exist in 2034,
you cannot start in the year 2033 or even the year 2014 to
start building it. You must begin now, and you must begin
with earnestness and a conviction that each step you take
must lead toward the goal. You must have a sense of urgency
and a sense of purpose. Above all you must begin with an
intention to persevere. Perseverance, just like excellence,
is a necessity.
For the next thirty years, at least, you and millions of
your generation will be the principal players in the drama
that unfolds before us. You are the ones who must take the
baton in this race, and you must run more swiftly and
more purposefully than those of us who have been running
before you.
There is a "no trespassing" sign in a field in the
Indiana countryside. The sign reads, "If you enter this field
you had better cross it in 9.9 seconds. The bull can do it
in 10 flat."
That is the kind of running you must do because the events
of the past and the present, the foibles and fallacies of many
of our policies and actions, the inhumanities that have been
foisted by some on others are all catching up to us at
an ever-increasing pace. Boldness and courage in leadership
will be required. Winston Churchill said that, "Of all the
qualities of leadership, courage is the most important because
courage guarantees all the rest." Churchill was referring not
to physical courage of the type we see on the battlefield or,
at times, on the playing field, but moral courage of the type
that leads to decisions and actions that are just and right
even though they may be unpopular and rebuked. Boldness,
coupled with a commitment to excellence and a capacity
for perseverance will be necessary ingredients for creating
the future you envision.
And what else will be required now to launch us toward this
brighter future-a future free of the afflictions and dangers
of the present. Most importantly, in my opinion, is the need
for a positive and constructive set of attitudes. William
James once wrote, "The greatest discovery of my generation
is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their
attitudes of mind." In his essay President Vest wrote,
"In the end, I believe that knowledge and skill trump ignorance,
and that optimism trumps pessimism." It is the belief that
"optimism trumps pessimism" that must govern our actions,
I believe, if we are to have a future where people of all
races, cultures and nations live together and prosper in
consonance with the laws of nature and the moral tenets of
humanity. Yes, Chuck Vest was right. All of us must learn
about and appreciate the value of Excellence, Perseverance,
Boldness and Optimism as guideposts for our own lives.
Without a doubt, the task ahead is a strenuous one! But
the value to be derived is worthy of the effort to
accomplish it. Equally important, it can be a joyous journey
just as it promises to be a joyous destination. Each new
day offers us an opportunity to move a bit closer to the
future we perceive and to which we aspire. No less a
philosopher than Winnie the Pooh reminds us that "Yesterday
is history, tomorrow is a mystery. But today comes to us
as a gift. That is why we call it-- the present."
Yes, what you must do will be hard. Fatigue will set in.
But the belief that you are needed to accomplish it must
transcend the investments in time, energy and intellect
that will be required. Your Syracuse education has prepared
you well for what you will face.
Hard work and aspirations will also carry you a long way,
just as they did for your forefathers and mothers, most
of whom were not blessed with the formal educations you
have received. There is a story about an elderly, black
junk dealer who had become a millionaire who was asked
how he had managed to do so well despite the fact that he
never got beyond the third grade in school. He replied,
"Well, it ain't hard really. I just buy things for a dollar
and sell them for four dollars. You'd be surprised how fast
that three percent profit adds up."
Yet, there is also room for idealism, idealists and ideals.
In 1859, Carl Shurtz wrote, "Ideals are like stars; you will
not succeed in touching them with your hands. But like the
seafaring men on the desert of waters, you choose them as
your guides and following them you will reach your destiny."
Just as I challenged you earlier about heeding the sign in the
Indiana countryside, I now ask you to listen carefully to the
words of the late Benjamin E. Mays, eminent theologian and
educator who served long and admirably as president
of historically-black Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia.
Mays opined on the same topic as Shurtz, whom I just quoted,
and offered this admonition: "It must be borne in mind
that the tragedy in life does not lie in not reaching your
goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach. It is
not a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a
calamity not to dream. It is not a disaster not to be able
to capture your ideal, but it is a disaster to have no ideal
to capture. It is not a disgrace not to reach the stars,
but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for.
Not failure but low aim is a sin."
I like both of those quotations because they capture so very
well the essence of living a purposeful life-one predicated
on the belief that life is not a problem to be solved but a
gift to be enjoyed. We look to you to lead our efforts to
produce a better world in which all of us might live in
peace and safety.
My challenge to you is to use your time wisely and well.
And don't just do well - all of us, your families, friends
and professors expect that of you. Make sure you also do
some good!
My best advice to you is to keep learning. Today is not the
end of your education. Remember, this is your commencement;
you are at the starting line. This is the time to start
applying that which you have already learned and to open your
hearts and minds to those things that are yet to be learned.
One of the expressions my wife has taught me and the thousands
of students she has guided over the years is that "Knowledge
is man's best friend while ignorance is his worst enemy."
Only by continuing to learn and question will you be able
to contribute to a future of abundance and accord rather than
one of devastation and despair.
I take great comfort in the words of the poem Dr. Mays
would invariably use to conclude the chapel service on the
Morehouse campus. The poem, "God's Minute," points out the
urgency we must feel if we are to address the critical issues
being confronted throughout the world. The urgency he demands
is stated much more sublimely than that on the "No Trespassing"
sign but its meaning is just as clear.
I have only just a minute, only 60 seconds in it,
Forced upon me, can't refuse it.
Didn't seek it, didn't choose it,
But it's up to me to use it.
I must suffer if I lose it,
Give account if I abuse it.
Just a tiny little minute-
But eternity is in it.
Peace be with you, buena suerte, good luck!
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The Search for Excellence and
Equity in Higher Education:
A Perspective from an Engineer
A Synopsis of The George W. Woodruff School of
Mechanical Engineering
Annual Distinguished Lecture - April 10, 2003
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" America requires all of
the scientific and engineering
talent it can muster to maintain
a competitive edge in the
global marketplace of ideas
and artifacts. "
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There is an immutable and inevitable divergence between the
desire for selectivity and the goal of diversity in higher
education. It is manifested in many ways, most recently
and publicly in the form of the legal case contesting the
affirmative action admission policies of the University of
Michigan and the decisions of Princeton University and MIT
to open programs originally designed for underrepresented
minorities to white and Asian students. But viewing this
as simply a contest between an adherence to principles of
meritocracy and a quest for inclusiveness in academe
marginalizes the issue as being one of what constitutes
"best" and masks the underlying questions of what is right,
what is responsible and what is necessary.
Nowhere are these matters more prevalent in higher education
than in the several disciplines of science and engineering.
Historically, matters of diversity and pluralism have not
been highly visible on the radar screens of science and
engineering departments in our nation's colleges and
universities and the relative absence of women and minorities
in and in front of the classrooms and laboratories is one
indication of this reality. To be sure, too few African
American, Latino and American Indian young people complete
high school with the necessary math and science preparation
to enter and complete a rigorous scientific or engineering
education. And for many women and other underrepresented
groups, academic scientific and engineering communities are
perceived as unfriendly places to enter and attempt to take
up residence. There are many reasons that these inequities
either are or appear to be true and it is encouraging to note
that a growing number of activities are underway to address
them. But a coherent, widely accepted, broad-based and
well-supported effort that is designed to effectively redress
these disproportions and apparent injustices in treatment
remains elusive.
America requires all of the scientific and engineering talent
it can muster to maintain a competitive edge in the global
marketplace of ideas and artifacts. Failure to address the
inequalities that exist in our educational systems, especially
in higher education, could doom us to a position of
technological inferiority among the principal nations of
the world.
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