Search

A race desegregation assistance center based at the University of Michigan, the Program for Educational Opportunity (PEO) was established by funding through the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The program was expanded to encompass race, gender, and national origin equity in public schools in the Great Lakes region. The PEO ceased operation in 2011. Administrative files, topical files, workshop and task force material, handbooks, and material pertaining to desegregation and equality in public schools in Ann Arbor, Detroit, and elsewhere in Michigan and the Great Lakes region. Materials include reports from school districts, histories of desegregation, and recordings of conferences/workshops (1970-1993) including speakers Charles D. Moody, Junious Williams, Edward H. Steinman, and other notable individuals.

The records for the Program for Educational Opportunity, 1969-2002, (36.2 linear feet) are divided into twenty-two series: Administrative, Correspondence, Committees and Task Forces, Conferences and Workshops, Handbooks, Reports, Desegregation, Project for Fair Administration of School Discipline (PFASD), Public Schools, Topical Files, Administrative, Conferences, Center for Sex Equality in Schools (CSES), Desegregation Assistance Center, PFASD, Public Schools, Topical Files, Programs, Reports, CSES, Topical Files, and Recordings of Conferences and Workshops. All folders within series are arranged alphabetically. Series titles repeat due to multiple transfers of material received at different times.

Researchers of desegregation efforts and the controversy of school discipline will find many valuable resources in the record group such as research reports, case studies, and conference materials. Also well documented is the Ann Arbor Area School District within the general Public Schools series which includes information on various programs within the district, records from the Board of Education, community surveys, and statistical data on staff and students. The Conferences and Workshops and Committees and Task Forces are also series that are particularly well documented; included are conference and workshop materials, reports, and in some cases, evaluations. The Recordings of Conferences and Workshops (1970-1993) includes 515 audiovisual recordings and covers topics such as human relations training, recruiting minority staff, combating racism and sexism in the curriculum, multi-cultural education, student rights and discipline, and the development of staff counseling skills.

The office of the Vice Provost for Academic and Multicultural Affairs was originally established to develop and support programs to aid the University of Michigan in the recruitment and retention of students, faculty, and staff of color. The scope of the duties of the office were later expanded to include administrative oversight of a number of programs and services for faculty and students. The bulk of the record group is comprised of topical files related to multicultural issues, correspondence and reports relating to particular initiatives and funding programs, and administrative office files.

The records of the Vice Provost for Academic and Multicultural Affairs document the activities and functions of the office from its creation in 1987 through 2000. The record group has been received in increments over the years, with some overlap in content between different accessions; the researcher may want to consult the files in multiple accessions to ensure receiving the most complete account of a particular subject. Some scattered records predating the formal establishment of the office are present in the early accessions. The record group consists of records of Vice Provost Charles D. Moody, Sr. and Lester Monts relating to work of the Office; series concern relations of office with outside organizations as well as activities within the university. It also includes administrative files, chronological files, and files on units reporting to the Office such as Military Officer Education Programs and Undergraduate Admissions.

While the earlier accessions mainly concern the vice provost's involvement in multicultural affairs, later accessions include information on the office's broader academic affairs responsibilities, including administrative oversight of various student academic services. It should be noted that, for the most part, folder headings assigned by the vice provost's office have been retained, and reflect the use of terms such as "African Americans," "Blacks," "Hispanics," and "Latinos" by the office.