Student Race Relations at Stanford Called Strained

Although there are few overt acts of racism on campus and many students say they have close friends of another race, relations between minority and Anglo undergraduates at Stanford University are strained, according to a survey released Tuesday.

As a result, a special committee at Stanford recommended that the university increase the hiring of minority faculty, double the number of minority Ph.D. students and require undergraduates to take an ethnic studies course.

Stanford officials said they believe the survey of 1,316 undergraduates was the most extensive of its kind ever conducted at a major university.

According to the survey, nearly half of black, Latino and American Indian students believe that most Anglo students are racially prejudiced. And the study found significant resentment among Anglos about what they consider to be reverse discrimination.

On the other hand, a surprisingly high percentage of Stanford students surveyed said they had dated interracially: 57% of Anglos, 90% of Latinos, 78% of Asians and 74% of blacks.

However, Stanford, like many other American universities, has had several incidents in recent years that increased racial tensions. For example, a controversy arose last fall when two white students in a black-oriented dormitory drew a caricature of a black on a poster showing the composer Beethoven.

“Despite substantial interracial contact in acquaintanceships, close friendships and dating, many minority students feel social distance, tension and a sense of not fitting in at Stanford,” said the study by the University Committee on Minority Issues.

About 32% of Stanford’s current undergraduates are minorities, compared to 18% a decade ago. But attempts to increase minority graduate students has been slower, with their representation rising from 10% to 15% over the same period. The study called the record of recruiting minority graduate students mediocre.

The three minority students and one minority professor on the 21-member committee criticized the survey as too statistical, saying such a survey “cannot communicate the range of emotions and experiences of people of color.”

The study and recommendations will be presented to the Stanford Board of Trustees next week. Stanford President Donald Kennedy said some of the proposals might be adopted quickly while others “may not be workable at all,” according to a statement released by the university.