Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action records, 1972-2023

Summary Information

At a Glance

Arrangement

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in two series: Series I: Affirmative Actions Plans and Series II: Rosalind Fink files.

• Series I: Affirmative Action Plans, 1972-2023
• Series II: Rosalind Fink files, 1983-1993

Description

Summary

This collection consists of the Columbia University Affirmative Action Plans and annual updates from 1972 to 2020. It also includes the Employee Policies and Procedures on Discrimination, Harassment, Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Dating Violence and Stalking and other publications issued by the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action. There is a also records from from former Office Director Rosalind Fink.

• Series I: Affirmative Action Plans, 1972-2023

  This series includes two kinds of publications issued by the EOAA Office. The first are the Affirmative Action Plans from 1972 to the present. Please note that the Office stopped printing the AA Plans after 2013 and instead posted digital copies on their website. Those web pages have been captured in the Web Archives. The other set of publications are brochures or handouts from around 2000.

• Series II: Rosalind Fink files, 1983-1993

  This series contains the records of Rosalind Fink, the first Director of the EOAA Office.

Using the Collection

Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Restrictions on Access

You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.

This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.

This collection has no restrictions.

Digital files can only be viewed in the reading room at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library on a specially configured laptop. Please reserve a laptop by selecting the checkbox in the container list.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.

Preferred Citation

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action records; Box and Folder numbers; University Archives, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University Libraries.

Related Materials

Additional infomration about EOAA at Columbia can be found in the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs records (UA#0083).

Accruals

Additions are expected.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Processing Information

Collection-level record describing unprocessed material made public in November 2018 as part of the Hidden Collections initiative. Collection was processed and finding aid was written by Joanna Rios, October 2021.

Revision Description

2021-10-15 Added box inventory (JR)

2023-02-13 Added digital records from the Policy Archives (JR)

Subject Headings

The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches at Columbia University through the Archival Collections Portal and through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, as well as ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.

All links open new windows.

Subject

History / Biographical Note

Historical Note

In 1967 an executive order was issued banning all discrimination by contractors on federal projects. The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) oversaw compliance with this policy. Federal contractors had to annually submit an analysis of the distribution of women and minority workers. HEW oversaw Columbia's affirmative action plans designed to safeguard against discrimination. Beverly C. Clark served as the Equal Opportunity officer in the late 1970s.

Rosalind Fink was appointed in 1980 as the first director of the University's Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action. She served in that position for 14 years. During her term as director, she took a leading role in formulating the sexual assault policy, making the campus wheelchair accessible, conducting grievance investigations, developing University policies which combatted discrimination, supporting the organizing efforts of gay members of the community, and encouraging search committees to include women and minority candidates when looking for faculty members and administrators. Fink also served as adjunct associate professor of political science at Barnard College from 1991 to 1994.