On a day when the nation’s eyes were on the trial of a former police officer in Minneapolis, the Select Board voted unanimously to broaden its recruitment of municipal employees to achieve a more diverse workforce and to provide relevant diversity training for all municipal employees and members of town committees and boards.
“The voices and actions of bigotry, prejudice, and hatred have no place here,” the board declared in a one-page, 400-word statement. “A multitude of perspectives and a variety of experiences enrich all those who reside here. We embrace all people of varying race, color, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, gender, age, economic status, disability, gender identity, and sexual orientation.”
In addition to its broad embrace of diversity—a vision the board calls “One Harvard”—the document commits board members to:
- Respond to public acts of prejudice or hate.
- Welcome feedback, positive and negative, on the town’s performance in delivering services with “understanding, acceptance, and equity for all.”
- Provide “diversity and inclusion training,” for “all staff members, departments, town committees, and boards.”
- Ensure hiring practices that are “transparent and fair” to “increase and retain diversity” among the town’s workforce.
Although the document states that “the town” will respond to “acts of prejudice or hate,” no process is specified. And a formal mechanism for providing feedback to officials on the equity with which town services are delivered is not spelled out.
The statement assigns the work of the last two bullets to Marie Sobalvarro, Harvard’s director of human resources and assistant town manager. She will be responsible for developing a training plan, collaborating with the school district, and opening training events to the public whenever possible. Select Board member Rich Maiore told the Press he hoped Sobalvarro would have a plan ready, if not fully implemented, by the end of the year.
Sobalvarro must also report annually on how advertising and interviewing was done for open positions the previous year—that is, where the positions were advertised and how the choice of venues affected the diversity of applicants—but the task does not specify quotas.
The board’s discussion and vote on the statement were low-key and earnest, lasting 20 minutes, but the timing couldn’t have been more dramatic, coming on the night of the nationally televised trial and murder conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd one year ago. “It’s serendipity we get to vote on this today,” said Select Board member Stu Sklar. “I’m fully supportive.”
The statement was drafted by Maiore, who first presented it to his colleagues last month. Sharon Cronin and other members of Arm in Arm, a local group promoting diversity, inclusion, and cultural education, suggested changes, some of which were incorporated into the final draft.
“We didn’t get everything we wanted, but we are pleased the board took this step,” Cronin told the Press. She and other members of Arm in Arm, for example, had asked for the board to create a process for monitoring and responding to acts of prejudice, but that bullet point was dropped from the final statement.
The organization also suggested the town commit to hiring and retaining more people of color. In an email message Wednesday morning, Maiore and Sobalvarro said the practical effect of the call for “transparent and fair” hiring practices would be to “expand the venues where we’ll be seeking employees.” But as discussion made clear Tuesday night, the town does not have the appetite to go further.
A balancing act
Maiore said the statement was a balancing act. “There’s always more to do,” he said. “But what else, what specific things can we do as the Select Board, without becoming the town’s diversity police?”
Bonnie Chandler of Prospect Hill Road was the sole resident to speak against the measure. “The town does not need a diversity statement, and it most certainly should not be giving diversity training to employees and volunteers,” Chandler said. She said the statement was an example of “virtue signaling,” the expression of opinions or sentiments intended to demonstrate one’s good character or the moral correctness of one’s position. She said the call for diversity training was an example of what she termed “critical race theory,” which she characterized as holding that “any outcome where nonwhites are underrepresented is prima facie evidence of systemic racism and oppression.” Chandler said officials were being “bullied,” that equality “is already enshrined in our laws.” She added: “It’s enshrined in our culture. It’s enshrined in our hearts. We are not perfect, but we are always working on it and always improving it.”
‘It’s about respect’
Board member Kara Minar said she was disappointed in Chandler’s response. She said the diversity statement was about civility, about dignity for every individual, and generally “for respect.” She hoped that residents would take to heart the thought “that our lived experience may be different than anyone else’s lived experience.”
She continued: “It’s not trying to be exclusive, and it’s not brainwashing. And it’s not trying to impose any particular value on any person, … and their free will to think as they will.” It’s a call, she said “to be mindful of the respect and the dignity” with which anyone would want to be treated. “You can have different opinions, but you can still be civil.”
Summarizing her position, Chair Alice von Loesecke said she realized that the statement is a compromise, less than what some people may have wanted and more than others would have liked. “We are the leaders of the town,” she concluded, and it was important for the board “to put a stake in the ground.”
The Select Board’s statement will be posted on the town’s website and distributed to residents in coming days. Once the final statement is released, look for a copy on the Press website.
Harvard: How racially and ethnically diverse is the town?
Marie Sobalvarro, human resources director and assistant town manager, confirmed this week that the town of Harvard does not report the racial or ethnic diversity of its workforce or its residents. And using U.S. Census data to determine the race and ethnicity of Harvard’s population is complicated by the inclusion of households at Devens and inmates at the Federal Medical Center in the town’s official count. It’s also 10 years out of date.
The more recent five-year 2019 American Community Survey reports that the population within Harvard’s ZIP code (01451) is 91% white, 25 percent higher than the state average. Unfortunately, the margin of error in the ACS report is too high to allow its use to determine the minorities living within Still River or Harvard. The population living within Still River’s ZIP code (01467) is reported as 100% white. Once 2020 census results are released, it should be possible to prepare a more accurate snapshot.
Unlike the town, Harvard’s schools are required to report the diversity of both their staff and students. According to the latest data available from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, among its population of approximately 1,000 students, 77% are white, 12% identify as Asian, 2.4% Black, and 4.4% of Hispanic origin. The 150-member staff is 95% white, with one Black person, one person of Pacific Island origin, and four of Hispanic origin.
