Clinton St. Quarterly, Vol. 7 No. 2 | Summer 1985

when all the schools hadn’t wanted to hire any black people period. Suddenly all of them wanted to hire one and I turned out to be one of the ones they wanted to hire. I think I’ve done well without having those credentials that they held so high. And it seems that the least I can do is provide, in a less-favorable political climate, opportunities for others to do as I was able to do. And I thought this faculty would recognize that. I’m really very pleased that I got more support from a lot of the community than I deserve—the students, the administration, the alumni. Hiring of faculty is a very touchy subject. It seemed that I had done about as much as I could do, and that like being a parent. You put in an awful lot of time and effort and worry, and you’d like it to all kind of end well and harmoniously. And that is not the way my deanship is ending. CSQ: What are your future plans? Bell: I’m not sure. I haven’t resigned my faculty position. My wife of almost 25 years is the Director of the University’s Council on Minority Education and is quite involved in that. I’m really reluctant to pull up stakes and do as I’ve done so many times in my career, move on and have her give up work that she’s really interested in and involved in. So I’ll be taking leave for this year coming up and I hope to do a goodly amount Based on how black people have been treated in this country, white folk need tofall down on their knees every night and thank their god that there aren ’t a hundred thousand Farrakhans running about in this society g a patisseries FNsurrtCoffeeJJoust ■CPSAM. Couchs NOW SERVING BREAKFAST 6:30am WEEKDAYS 8am WEEKENDS only leaves the question, well, you know you were unhappy, why would you raise so much Cain about it? Why not just wait until the end of the semester and say you had other job offers and not create a huge stir? And I'm not sure I know the answer to that, except that even though I see my resignation as less a principled action than an admission of defeat, I think I like to try to get in a couple of last shots. And I think that this way, those who have different positions will not only have the opportunity but the necessity of defending those positions in the future. And I think that other faculties are going to be looking at those things a lot more carefully than perhaps they were willing to look in an earlier time. It nevertheless has created a great deal of trauma and upset for them and for me. Serving as dean of a law school, particularly in troubled times, is almost of lecturing at law schools around the country during the fall. Harvard Law School has a winter term of one month and I’ll go back and teach in that in January. And I’ll come back to the West Coast and visit at Stanford Law School and be teaching there in the spring semester. Harvard Law Review has asked me to write—every year their first issue is a Supreme Court issue, and the forward is written by usually some very prestigious legal scholar—and this year, for some reason, they asked me to do it. So there goes my summer. And some place along the line I’ll try to make up my mind what I’m going to do next. Marcia Mint Danab is a radio producer living in Eugene. This exclusive interview is her first contribution to the CSQ. Richard J. Brown is a free-lance photographer living in Portland. Many of these photos originally appeared in the Portland Observer. A PORTLAND JAZZ CLUB • A PORTLAND JAZZ CLUB • A^ O U N N Z o L arenman Jrarm Calzone If you like our famous Pizza you will love our Calzone. We think it is the best...anywhere. Visit us soon for a Calzone treat you won't soon forget. 1204 S.E. Clay St. Portland, OR 235-7831 N N co O <A PORTLAND JAZZ CLUB • A PORTLAND JAZZ CLUB / Open to Al]— Food Front COOPERATIVE GROCERY Whole roods, Real Groceries, natural Treats, Fresh Produce Open 7 days. 9 a m to 8 p m 2675 NW Thurman' 222-5658 TRI-MET BUS 53 3338 sw corbett Portland 227 4531 our avocados are always ripe 1016 SW Morrison Portland, Oregon 97205 (503) 222-2673 Flying Colours Specialty Yarns Needlework Accessories The Flying Colours Story 4 Portland’s Most Complete Knitting & Needlework Store now j has Knitting Machines. Knitters and non-knitters alike are ex enthusiastic about machine knitting. Long popular in Europe d and Japan, it offers the speed and convenience of the sewing x machine. In addition to standard models, we have the “Bulky”, A afavorite for the hand knit look. Come join in the excitement cJ of Knitting Machines. SOPHISTICATED SELECTION OF GREETING CARDS Green Tiger Press • Imports • Silkscreened 2916 N.E. BROADWAY • PORTLAND • 284-4741 16 Clinton St. Quarterly

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc4NTAz