Controversy over whether the review could be trusted came to a head after the consultant Kean hired was found to have a criminal record and inconsistencies on his resume.
UNION -- An internal review of Kean University's policies has concluded that the school does not show evidence of discrimination against black students or faculty, but critics say the audit was biased and that an external review is still necessary.
The results of the four-month review were released at the school's board meeting Monday night. The review committee concluded that "with respect to African-American students and employees, Kean University's policies and processes are comprehensive and equitable and do not promote bias or other arbitrary and discriminatory practices." However, the committee did suggest areas for improvement, including bridging the gap in graduation rates between black students (40.7 percent) and the general student population (50.1 percent).
The allegations of discrimination at Kean were made in the fall of 2015 by a coalition of black ministers led by Rev. Ron Slaughter of St. James AME Church in Newark. The coalition has also been calling for the resignation of Kean President Dawood Farahi.
Not only has the coalition alleged discriminatory employment practices and layoffs at the school, but also "structural racism," which they define as funds being spent on "vanity projects" at the school instead of on support services for at-risk students who attend Kean, and the hiring of adjuncts and lecturers over full-time professors. Allegations of misplaced spending and exploitative hiring of lower-paid adjuncts at Kean have also been made for years by Kean's teachers union.
The controversy over whether an internal discrimination review could be trusted came to a head after the consultant Kean paid $15,000, Rev. Michael B. Blackwell, was found to have a criminal record and inconsistencies on his resume.
Also involved in the drama are two legislators - Union County powerbroker Sen. Raymond Lesniak and State Sen. President Stephen Sweeney - who feuded over who should act as the consultant on the review, even before the revelations about Blackwell.
Lesniak had recommended Blackwell to the Kean board, while Sweeney had suggested former State Supreme Court Justice John Wallace. Eventually, after Blackwell's past was revealed and pressure from Sweeney mounted, the school agreed to hire Wallace to review the report and to also be paid $15,000. It is unclear when Wallace will begin his review.
Slaughter has been outspoken about the hiring of Blackwell and said he's awaiting the results of Wallace's review.
"Taxpayers across the state should be infuriated that Kean's board of trustees paid $15,000 for a flimsy report written by someone who was clearly paid to see no evil and speak no evil," Slaughter said. "I'm confident that Justice Wallace will conduct a serious investigation and come to an entirely different conclusion. If my church is required by the mortgage company to provide an annual external audit - from an independent CPA and not my internal CPA - then why does an institution that is operated off of taxpayer money feel an internal report is sufficient? If the board doesn't take time to read a person's resume or recommendation letters before hiring them for a $15,000 contract, then why should we trust a report they produced?"
Kean says although Blackwell was a consultant, the review was led by Chair Trustee Linda Lewis, a former equal opportunity specialist with the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights. The school said the committee's review included data on enrollment patterns, financial aid, student leadership, and security and graduation statistics related to black students. It also covered Kean staff with data on employment statistics by race/ethnicity, faculty trends, involuntary terminations by ethnicity and affirmative action data, the school said.
"We looked at our own progress as well as where we stand compared to our sister universities in New Jersey," Lewis said. "We asked tough questions and sought meaningful and reliable answers. ... All constituents of the Kean community have a responsibility to ensure that we are the best that we can be. The findings of this review support that Kean is diverse and provides an environment fertile with equality and opportunity. Is it striving to overcome societal ills that nurture bias and discrimination? Yes. It is time for the malicious defamation and finger-pointing to cease and a cooperative spirit that moves Kean forward to begin."
The school released the following findings:
- African-American student graduation rates since admission of the 2003 cohort increased 37 percent.
- African-American students have held 41.9 percent of the Student Government Executive Board elected positions over the past 10 years, and currently hold 81.25 percent of the positions.
- African-American enrollment in 2014 was 19.5 percent of the total student population vs. the average 9 percent among peer institutions in New Jersey.
- The percentage of African-American employees at Kean University is 30 percent greater than the African-American percentage of the New Jersey population.
- The African-American employee population ratio is statistically consistent despite an 18.8 percent decrease in the workforce over the past 10 years.
- African-American employees have been promoted at a rate 6.92 percent greater than the overall African-American workforce in the past ten years.
- The African-American full time faculty population has increased 8.8 percent over the past five years.
The review says there is room for improvement in the following areas:
- Bridge the gap between the Kean African-American graduation rate of 40.7 percent and that of the general student population of 50.1 percent by exploring new initiatives to improve student success outcomes.
- Consider more targeted faculty recruitment strategies, including marketing in such specialized areas as Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
- Review full-time faculty promotion procedures with the Kean Federation of Teachers to determine if issues are negatively impacting African-American faculty and if those can be addressed.
- Establish job placement tracking research for Kean University students to ensure more opportunities for success after graduation.
Read the full report, here.
"The report presented by Ms. Lewis, whose career as a compliance officer gives her expert status in these issues, is an affirmation of the ongoing work of so many in our administration, faculty and student body," said Kean President Dawood Farahi. "We will continue to use best practices to ensure that our community remains richly diverse and that our graduation rates for African-American students and student success outcomes for all students grow stronger each year."
Jessica Remo may be reached at jremo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessicaRemoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.