UCI Librarian in Bias Inquiry Is Quitting Post

UC Irvine librarian Calvin J. Boyer, whose administration has been under scrutiny due to alleged bias against women and minorities, announced Wednesday that he is stepping aside.

Boyer told library staff in a series of meetings that he has asked to be relieved of his duties as university librarian effective in September, according to library employees present at the meetings.

Boyer did not explain why he was stepping aside or whether he plans to leave UCI, said Sylvester Klinicke, UCI chapter president of the American Federation of Teachers, which represents more than 300 campus librarians and lecturers.

University administration officials could not confirm Boyer’s resignation, however, and Boyer did not return telephone calls from The Times. But he has indicated his desire to stay on with the University of California, university sources said.

William H. Parker, a vice chancellor and Boyer’s supervisor, said he was aware that Boyer had sent a confidential letter to UCI Chancellor Jack W. Peltason. Since Peltason is away until Friday, Parker said he could not confirm the letter’s contents.

Some library employees say Boyer was under increasing pressure to resign after three separate reviews of library operations, including allegations of bias in hiring and promotions, and racism in the treatment of minority staff members and visitors.

“There was no proof of blatant bias or prejudice to minorities, but that turned out not to be the real issue,” said Klinicke, a librarian for special collections at UCI. “But all three reports said the same thing: There was a lack of leadership and decisiveness on his (Boyer’s) part.”

Parker, however, said Boyer has done an excellent job in raising the caliber of the staff and the library itself in his more than 10 years as university librarian. He also noted that the library has a good record of affirmative-action hiring, despite past criticism by union officials.

The issue of discrimination at UCI’s library first surfaced in 1989, when Boyer was trying to recruit the first Latino librarian even as two blacks and one Asian were leaving. Amid growing perceptions that the library was inhospitable to minorities, campus ombudsman R. Ronald Wilson also revealed that employees had mocked Asian and Middle Eastern library patrons. A cultural sensitivity workshop was scheduled for library employees.

Then in May, 1989, union officials went public with charges that minorities and women had been unfairly denied promotions and salary increases.

At the time, Klinicke said there was a perceived “glass ceiling” that prevented women and minorities from advancing. As a result, those who were hired eventually went elsewhere, he said.

Investigations were launched. And after a five-month study, a special faculty committee concluded in February, 1990, that Boyer had a “dubious” commitment to affirmative action and lacked skills in solving conflicts and making decisions.

Boyer vehemently disagreed with the report, saying some of its conclusions were “directly contradicted by the facts,” and charged that press coverage had slanted the committee’s findings. Cases of mistreatment of minority librarians and patrons were isolated incidents, he said.

A separate review was done by a committee of faculty and librarians from several universities.

In its report dated Jan. 23, 1991, the committee concluded that library management was not communicating adequately with the staff. But it “found no evidence of racial discrimination.”

Klinicke said more women and minorities have been hired. But, he added, “we still don’t have many minorities advancing up the ladder right now.”