HIRING BLACK PROFESSIONALS FOR OER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80B01495R000400040034-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 9, 2005
• Sequence Number: 34
• Publication Date: January 10, 1974
• Content Type: MEMO

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lp January 1974
SUBJECT: Hiring Black Professionals for OER
STAT 1. Agency recruiter nd I recently
visited several black col eges an universities seeking to
interest students in Agency employment in the field of
economics. In talking with numerous school officials
and some students, one thing stood out; OER faCES an
up-hill road in its determination to expand the minority
component of its professional work force. We must
try harder than we have in the past and must be willing
to shuck off a]_d habits and orthodoxies in our approach
to the problem. This memorandum discusses same of the
problems associated with recruiting black students and
suggests ways that we can solve them.
2. A major set of impediments to successful hiring of
blacks is grounded in the attitudes of the .black students
themselves. There is considerable hostility among many of
the black students toward CIA. Some of this is the product
of the general level of radicalism that pervades much
university life these days, but the attitude goes even
deeper. There is identification of CIA with, and criticism
of, its role in the ~7ietnam war, a war for which many
blacks feel they carried a disproportionate share of the
burden. In addition, many black students identify very
strongly with nationalist movements in Africa and
elsewhere, and radicals among them-have fostered the
notion that CIA perpetuates the reactionary status quo in
these areas and thwarts- the legitimate aspirations of
black people everywhere for social, political and cultural
growth. Regardless of the validity of these attitudes,
they appear to be well entrenched. On more than one
occasion, I was told by black professors that, while they
were sympathetic with the work being done by CIA in my
field, they could not appear to sponsor a favorable
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viewpoint toward us in their classrooms if they expect to
maintain any empathy with their students. In addition to
the difficulties which arise aut of misinformation about
the Agency, we also face the problem that many students
have little or no perception of what a professional career
..
in a Yresearch organization woulc~lae. likes. As one-
professor said, many of his students, having been raised
in disadvantaged cultural and intellectual circumstances,
have never even Yieard of research, much less do they
perceive the job opportunities in the field. Their view
of white-collar society beyond social work, teaching, and
the legal and medical professions, was nothing but a blur.
3. The second major category of problems is of our own
makingg. The Agency's professional employment standar s an
pracec~ures present major obstacles for many black students.
4. It is a simple fact that none but the best and mast
advantaged black students can hope to compete far professional
positions in our organization. Many of the black students
enter college with very great gaps in their education, and
these may be only partially remedied by their subsequent
college work. Reasons for this are obvious and well-known,
but one example especially brought the situation home to
me. A guidance counsellor (Black) at Spelman College,
reminiscing about her own high school days, remembered her
math teacher who had only a grade school education (:) and
in her words, blighted two generations of black students
with her utter inability to understand, much less teach,
the material for which she was responsible. The college
economic facult I talked with were without exception
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dedicated ana~s~Ty well prepared for their assignments,.
They were, however, overworked and caught up with the need
to try to fill in these large educational gaps of their
students. They had little time or energy to bring their
courses up to standards which we expect of mos-k: university
programs. Despite the very best efforts of such a dedicated
teaching faculty, most of the schools I visited cannot be
_~.~_.
said to _provide the` e ucational_oWpPortunities of _the majox
universtiesTfrom whic~i we-draw most of our professional
work force. As examples, the Chairman of the Department
of Economics at North Carolina Central University was
only an instructor two years ago, and he, the ranking
member of the staff, has just completed his Master's degree.
Mast of his conversation concerned the problems he faced
in helping .his students learn about urban civilization in
the Tvaentieth Century and his approach, quite paternalistic,
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was quite obviously very demanding of his time as a human
being and less so of 1-iis qualifications as a teacher of
economics. Similarly, the, Department of Economics at
Spelman Callege lays claim to offering a full economics
program at the Bachelor's level, and this only because
of the valiant efforts of one woman who, until two years
ago, was the only economics instructor at the Callege.
5. As to employment procedures, few of the black
students understand the necessity of trTie elaborate__
investigati ce ures,ydocumentation, and the like.
Many of them come from~h.ame surroundings of hire-on on
Monday and payday on Friday. It does little far our
recruitment program to trot out the 20-odd-page PHS
form, say "fill this out and wait 3-6 months after which
time we may hire you, if you pass the security check."
6. Finally, our recruitment effort runs up against a
very vigorous and aggressive set of c, amraetitars_. Black
students, mediocre to good, are in much demand by the
business community and graduate schools throughout the
United States. At all .of the colleges I visited, there
was profuse evidence of very slick recruitment efforts by
most of the major US corporations. Placement offices
were loaded down with colorful and interesting recruiting
literature. Recruiting officials make frequent pilgrimages
to all the B7.ack schools and frequently stay several days,
spending liberally on student and faculty alike, not
forgetting the college placement officials, Furthermore,
when these corporations identify students they are interested?
in hiring, their pursuit becomes intensive, resembling in
most particulars the old fraternity hot-box approach to
pledging. One Composite examx~ will illustrate this. A
major US Corporation recently identified a black student
at Atlanta University who fitted into their employment
picture. They invited the student to visit the corporation's
headquarters, all expenses paid, offered him summer
employment during the same visit, which, for one reason ar
another, he declined. Subsequently, the Corporation paid
several calls on the student, always making Certain that
they Conveyed their interest to the Director of Placement
(a long lunch was usually the most appropriate vehicle far
the discussion). Early in the recruiting process, the
recruiters made a firm employment offer, and, once the
student had decided to come with the company, they brought
him into the Corporation at a time selected by the student.
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Furthermore, as a follow-up, the placement director of the
university was given an all-expense-paid visit to the
corporation headquarters after the student had gone to
work for_ the company.
6. Perhaps more subtle, but albeit, effective
tactics are being used by many of the major graduate
schools. Nearly all black students with B and A averages
are able to go on to graduate school will full-expense-
paid scholarships. Such arrangements frequently include
research grants for the summer periods as well. One
professor at North Carolina Central University told me that
he had carte blanche from several Ivy League colleges to
offer this kind of arrangement to any students in his
class whom he felt could reasonably handle graduate work.
What Might be Done
7. Granted at the outset that fiscal (and perriaps
ethical) constraints prevent us from duplicating the more
flamboyant tactics of same of our competitors, there are
same steps within our means which should be considered.
First nd foremost,~~we need to work on our image among the
black student community. -"-""""
8. This means we must be willing to move out of the
closet. Each of the campuses I visited has set asi e several
days in the fall and in the spring for a kind of "recruiting
fair." Recruiters are invited to set up booths in a
central area, usually the student union, where they can
meet with the students an a casual basis with no commitment
on either side. Several placement officers told me that
this was one of the best ways for the p~~'spective employer
to get his message across to the students. Having no
commitment, students could make contact with us through
this means without risking the criticism of their peers or
without, as they might suppose, becoming ensnared by the
CTA. The risks to this kind of approach are obvious: We
will be heckled at times, and a certain local notoriety
may arise. The rewards, however, would seem clearly
offsetting. The mere fact of our being willing to bring
our message into the open will cause some students to
rethink their views of CIA. Furthermore, we undoubtedly
will get mare line on job-seekers through this informal
procedure than we can hope to through the placement office.
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