Following the awards ceremony Monday are, from left, Cornell trustee Thomas W. Jones, who established the Perkins Prize in 1995; Orpheus Malik Williams, the winner of this year's prize; Robert D. Miller, professor emeritus of soil, crop and atmospheric sciences, who stood in for President Emeritus James Perkins (who was unable to attend); and President Hunter Rawlings. Charles Harrington/University Photography
Vowing to continue as "a soldier in the struggle for justice," Orpheus Malik Williams, a senior in human ecology and co-leader of Peer Educators in Human Relations (PEHR), accepted the third annual Perkins Prize for Interracial Understanding and Harmony at a ceremony Monday afternoon at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art.
"I, Orpheus Malik Williams, will continue to rebuke and remain intolerant of racist, sexist, classist, homophobic, ageist, ableist and anti-Semitic practices and ideals within and outside of my community," said Williams, in accepting the $5,000 prize that was established in 1995 by Cornell trustee Thomas W. Jones. Williams pledged he would continue to strive to be an "agent of change."
Jones, who is president and chief operating officer of the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF), the world's largest pension fund, noted that while the ceremony marked "a day of hope and celebration...we live in a world that continues to be torn by racial and ethnic conflict. Even on the Cornell campus currently we see an example of the way in which negative dynamics perpetuate themselves."
Jones was referring to a recent article in the Cornell Review, which parodied Ebonics and Africana studies. He noted the "emotional anger of the people who wrote the article...[which] some would consider to be racially baiting."
But, he said, the Perkins Prize was established to be "part of the process of lighting a candle instead of cursing the darkness. We should have a sense of hope today that as a nation we will continue to progress."
Jones established the annual prize, named for President Emeritus James A. Perkins, to promote efforts for the advancement of campus interracial understanding and harmony and to honor a past president's "historic decision" to increase the enrollment of minority students during the tumultuous 1960s.
In awarding the prize President Hunter Rawlings said, "it is a time to celebrate...the achievements of those receiving awards this afternoon. On the other hand, as Tom Jones made clear, we are doing so within a context where yet again this kind of divisive rhetoric has arisen in our midst." He said the remarks in the Cornell Review "were intentionally divisive. They were also distasteful, and they were offensive. In the U.S. we recognize the right of people to say what they want.
"But when people speak out in such a way, they not only open themselves up to scrutiny, but to withering scrutiny," Rawlings said.
Turning to the awards, Rawlings presented two certificates of honorable mention. One was presented to the daughter and a student of Donald Barr, professor of human service studies, for Barr's involvement in education and organizing efforts on campus and in the community toward building a more equitable society. Barr was not able to attend the ceremony.
The other honorable mention was given to Mary Webber, director of the Center for Religion, Ethics and Social Policy, for her efforts to bring about greater interracial understanding and intergroup harmony by establishing programming for the campus to discuss these issues and by training others in the skills of bridge-building.
In making the presentation to Williams, Rawlings said, "He has demonstrated a passion for justice and for opportunity for all persons. He has helped [PEHR] participants find new solutions."
PEHR is a student-led organization whose mission is to address areas of tension and intolerance plaguing the student environment and to endow those who participate in PEHR workshops with new perspectives and solutions. As a member and then co-leader of the organization, Williams has helped PEHR address such targeted issues as sexism, racism, homophobia and ageism through workshops, meetings and community organizing, both on and off campus.
In announcing the award two years ago, Jones said, "President Perkins made the historic decision to increase very significantly the enrollment of African- American and other minority students at Cornell." Perkins served as Cornell president from 1963 to 1969. Jones was an undergraduate at Cornell and a leader of the student takeover of Willard Straight Hall in 1969.
But at Monday's ceremony, and at a demonstration in front of the Johnson Museum during and after the ceremony, protesters called on Jones and Rawlings to "renounce practices of racial intolerance and harassment in a clear and unequivocal voice." They demanded that the university give permanent support to freshman choice in housing, including program houses such as Ujamaa and the Latino Living Center; increase minority recruitment; and fund a universitywide curriculum on racism for incoming students. They also asked the administration to repudiate the Cornell Review.
Both Rawlings and Jones briefly addressed the protesters gathered on the cold, windy afternoon, saying again that such intentionally divisive remarks as those in the Cornell Review are reprehensible.
Rawlings added, however, "I don't respond to demands. I understand why you make demands, but I don't respond to demands."
Following the demonstration in front of the museum, the protesters -- whose numbers reached about 200 -- moved to the intersection of East and University avenues, where they blocked access to the Triphammer Bridge for several hours before dispersing.