ACE Troubleshooter

Welcome relief and big expectations accompany Dr. William B. Harvey's appointment as head of the Office of Minorities in Higher Education

When the American Council on Education announced the new head of its Office of Minorities in Higher Education last month, observers said they were getting the best of both worlds — a respected scholar who is committed to diversity issues and a veteran of the higher education association world.
Currently dean of the school of education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Dr. William B. Harvey will assume his position as ACE's vice president and director of the Office of Minorities in Higher Education in July.
Higher-education observers had been waiting to see how quickly ACE officials would move to fill this influential position. The speculation began soon after Dr. Deborah Carter Wilds, deputy director of the office, left to oversee the Millennium Scholars program for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in February. Wilds' departure followed that of Dr. Hector Garza, who left to become vice president of a new nonprofit organization, the National Council for Community and Educational Partnerships (see Black Issues,  March 16).
Many advocates felt the departures left a void in the association and feared the once-influential office might never return to the heights it once held.
"I was very concerned about the appointment," says Dr. Reginald Wilson, founding director of the office. "It looked like the office was pretty much gutted. This appointment gives me hope. Bill can hit the ground running."
Some, like Dr. Joseph "Pete" Silver, chair of the Black Caucus of the American Association of Higher Education, wrote letters to ACE President Dr. Stanley O. Ikenberry urging him to fill the vice president's position quickly.
Harvey's appointment "calms my fears about the direction ACE was going in," says Silver, vice president for academic affairs at Savannah State University. Silver says many African Americans felt their concerns were being marginalized as higher education associations began to hire more Hispanics and Asian Americans.
"With Bill they've picked a person who is sensitive to all issues related to minority access and concerns," Silver says. "Bill won't be one dimensional."