UConn’s Residential Learning Community Comes Under Fire

Two dissident members of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights have accused the University of Connecticut of promoting “racial isolation” by planning to create a residential learning community designed to increase the low retention of African American male students.

Gail Heriot and Peter Kirsanow criticized UConn’s plan in March 21 letters on commission letterhead to university president Susan Herbst and Catherine Lhamon, assistant secretary of civil rights at the U.S. Department of Education. A news release issued the next day suggested UConn is violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a charge the nearly identical letters do not explicitly make.

On its website, Connecticut’s flagship campus has announced space for about 40 students in the Scholastic House of Leaders who are African American Researchers and Scholars, or ScHOLA²RS House. It will be on one floor in a new dorm for 700 students to open in the fall.

Initially, the notice indicated black or mixed race males would have priority. After initial media coverage, that wording was revised to state the learning community is available to any male undergraduate.

“It is hard to avoid the conclusion that ScHOLA²RS House was intended to promote racial isolation on campus,” Heriot and Kirsanow wrote. “Moreover, it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that it will in fact promote racial isolation on campus.”

A statement issued by UConn spokeswoman Stephanie Reitz disputed the charges about the purpose and effect of the housing arrangement.

“This learning community will not be separate or segregated, nor is it specifically limited to one race,” the statement said. “Participation is, of course, entirely voluntary and its programming will be open to all in the university community, not only black male students.”