Tuesday, February 11, 1997
TUTORING:
Program
misrepresented as
discriminatoryBy C. Adolfo Bermeo
Hannah Miller’s article on Jan. 23, 1997 is replete with
unfounded allegations, omissions of relevant information,
contradictions and gross misrepresentations of the reality of AAP,
AAP hiring, and the work of hundreds of dedicated AAP student and
full-time staff members. Nonetheless, in the current political
climate, readers who are not familiar with the philosophy,
pedagogy, policies and work of AAP can read such an article and be
manipulated into believing that so-called political correctness
runs rampant in Campbell Hall.
Ms. Miller portrays AAP as a program that discriminates in its
hiring practices, and she would have you believe that AAP forces
students and staff "to choose between working in AAP while toeing
the party line, or dissenting and being shut out from meaningful
positions." The evidence for these charges? A series of
unsubstantiated allegations from two unsuccessful tutorial
applicants and a former employee, and the misrepresentation of the
views of a current tutor and a former peer counselor, both of whom
are so upset that they have written their own rebuttals to the
Daily Bruin. Is this really the stuff a front page investigative
expose is made of? Apparently so, if the paper is The Bruin and the
program is AAP.
Let’s begin by setting the record straight. AAP’s policy is to
hire the most qualified applicant for any position it seeks to
fill. Invariably, in hiring tutors, some applicants with good
academic credentials are not offered a job. Competition is stiff.
Alvaro Cardona, whom Ms. Miller describes as "a fourth-year history
student," applied for a position as a composition tutor in Fall
1995. He was given an interview, but he was not hired. In the
article, he claims he wasn’t hired because of his political
beliefs. Nowhere is it mentioned that he was, at the time, an
entering community-college transfer student, in his first quarter
at UCLA, without a single UCLA course under his belt.
University personnel policy prohibits us from saying why Mr.
Cardona was not hired, but I can say, categorically, that his
politics were never a consideration in our decision. In fact, he
has been working in AAP Tutorial, though not as a tutor, since that
same Fall Quarter of 1995. Ms. Miller knew this. I told her so;
Donald Wasson told her so. Why did she fail to mention it? And if
there is a political litmus test in AAP hiring practices, why did
we hire Alvaro Cardona in 1995, and why is he still working in AAP
today?
I also told Ms. Miller that no one is hired or denied a job in
AAP because of race and ethnicity, and that no one is hired or
denied a job in AAP because of political views or beliefs. In
tutorial, hiring decisions are based on an applicant’s ability to
challenge students to excel at, and graduate from, UCLA. In talking
with Ms. Miller, both Donald Wasson and I emphasized that AAP
promotes academic excellence in everything we do. Yet, throughout
the article, the academic quality of AAP tutoring is implicitly
discredited. Donald Wasson invited Ms. Miller to sit in the
Tutoring Center and observe AAP tutoring sessions. There, she could
see for herself whether tutors in AAP are engaging in serious
academic work or, as Alvaro Cardona charges, simply providing "a
shoulder to cry on." Her response was that she had already talked
to many AAP tutors and that they too had stressed that their job is
to challenge students to excel. But Ms. Miller chose to leave out
their voices.
Subject knowledge and academic excellence are required of every
AAP tutor. AAP requires applicants for tutorial positions to submit
a list of professors taken for each class they want to tutor and
the grades received in each of these classes. They must also submit
their transcript or DPR. In reviewing applications, the first thing
we consider is the applicant’s academic record. Donald Wasson told
Ms. Miller this. He stressed that almost all applicants for AAP
tutoring positions are highly skilled, academically-successful
students, and that, necessarily, we turn away many applicants with
outstanding academic records. Ms. Miller fails to mention this in
her article.
We believe that the success of our tutorial program is built on
tutors who have both high academic qualifications and excellent
interpersonal skills. Why? Because many nonacademic issues affect
the academic performance of AAP students: financial pressures,
relationships, and feelings of alienation, to name but a few. AAP
tutors must be able to serve as motivators, role models, peer
mentors, and a primary resource for AAP students. In addition to
academic questions, much of the interview probes the applicant’s
communication and interpersonal skills, as well as the applicant’s
ability to address the kinds of concerns that students raise in
tutoring sessions. This process is not a political litmus test, and
it is not a demand for intellectual and political conformity. It is
good pedagogy. Nowhere on the application or in the interview do we
ask for an applicant’s political beliefs. We do, however, ask for
an applicant’s knowledge of AAP, its academic mission, and the
students it serves. Most employers prefer applicants who know
something about the organization and the position for which they
are applying  AAP is no exception.
Now, let’s talk briefly about some of the article’s more glaring
contradictions. The Bruin would have you believe that you are not
welcome in AAP unless you are an activist, yet, at the same time,
you won’t be tolerated if you are an activist. Furthermore, if you
fail to give us the so-called right answers, we will refuse to hire
you, and if you do give us the so-called right answers, we will
still refuse to hire you. Given this portrait, it is absolutely
amazing that we employ 200 highly-qualified tutors in our program
every quarter.
The Bruin would also have you believe that there is a culture of
silence in AAP. Based on what? Alvaro Cardona, who comes to work
here every week? Has he been silenced? The Bruin would have you
believe that Yurie Hong feels silenced in her work here. That is
simply not true. Ask her. She delivered her own response to The
Bruin on Jan. 26. As of Feb. 7, The Bruin has still not published
it. The Bruin would have you believe that Raul Lomeli also feels
that AAP fosters a culture of silence. Again, this is simply not
true. Ask him. Or read his rebuttal letter, which he submitted to
The Bruin on Feb. 5.
Unfortunately, The Bruin’s Jan. 23 article frames the discussion
of AAP in the most negative of terms. And that is too bad, for AAP
stands for the best of what United States society aspires to: for
access, opportunity, equity and social justice. We are committed to
ensuring the academic success, retention and graduation of all AAP
students; to increasing the numbers of AAP students entering
graduate and professional schools, and to developing the academic,
scientific, political, economic and community leadership necessary
to lead our society in the next century.
We encourage all AAP students to explore their talents and
abilities, to believe in themselves, to set the highest standards
for themselves, to aspire to academic and personal excellence, to
utilize all the resources available to them as UCLA students, and
to develop a sense of community and social responsibility.
This is the reality of AAP.