WCC students protest lack of staff diversity

Students at Westchester Community College protested Wednesday because they want a more racially diverse set of teachers in their classrooms. Nearly half of the 12,000 students at the school are minorities,

News 12 Staff

May 7, 2008, 11:13 PM

Updated 5,996 days ago

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Students at Westchester Community College protested Wednesday because they want a more racially diverse set of teachers in their classrooms.
Nearly half of the 12,000 students at the school are minorities, but many say the faculty doesn?t come close to representing that racial and ethnic mix.
Sarah Wolstein, a graduate of the college, organized the event after she found out a minority professor was removed from his post a month ago for what she calls unsubstantiated reasons. Wolstein says 90 percent of the teaching staff is white, while only 3 percent are black and another 3 percent are Latino.
Joe Hankin, president of Westchester Community College, says the school ranks fifth in the state for minority representation. Hankin says 10 percent of the teachers are minorities, but there are minorities holding other jobs at the college as well. Hankin welcomes minorities to apply for teaching positions.
Hankin says he would listen to the students? speeches concerning the matter and would see what appropriate changes could be made.