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Understanding Turner

Leaning against the wall in M. Rick Turner's second-floor office in the Luther P. Jackson House, home of the Office of African-American Affairs, is a chalkboard on which Turner has written the following quote: "The most meaningful and useful function of African-American administrators on white campuses is to become advocates for African-American students."

Now in his 17th year as dean of African-American Affairs, Turner has built a legacy doing just that: acting as a vocal advocate for African-American students at the University.

The quote, from civil rights advocate Dr. Samuel DeWitt Proctor, is a constant reminder of his role, Turner said.

"It has told me and taught me that I am here for a specific purpose," he said, "that I've been sent here to do this."

But Turner undoubtedly is a controversial figure on Grounds, and he is the first to admit it. He has a reputation for shooting from the hip, drawing criticism from some that he is more divisive than productive in matters of race relations at the University.

Most recently, Turner came under fire for remarks he allegedly made to members of the University chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, Inc., a historically black fraternity, criticizing its decision to move from the Black Fraternal Council to the Inter-Fraternity Council.

Yet Turner said his often confrontational demeanor is a natural product of his job.

"When I came here ... one of the things I didn't want to do was have an adversarial relationship with my colleagues or those I report to," he said. "But then I found out that, by the nature of what I do, the nature of the things I have to say, the nature of the issues that are brought forth to the University that I have to deal with, people are going to look at that as adversarial."

And Turner certainly isn't shy about the consequences of saying what he feels is necessary for him to say.

"I knew the consequences of what I had to say to those young men from the Alphas," he said. "I knew where I said it, I knew when I was going to say it, and I knew the aftermath."

The numbers are on Turner's side. Since he came to the University in 1988, the graduation rate of African-American students here has rocketed to among the very highest of any public institution, a fact he takes great pride in.

"It doesn't get any better than that," Turner said. "Many people ask me how that happened, and I say, 'Well, we accept good students, and we become involved in those students' lives.'"

Turner heavily stresses the importance of academic achievement and has designed many of the OAAA programs and services to reflect that. Turner said he appreciates the creative freedom that he and the staff at the OAAA have to implement new programs, although he does not believe the resources afforded to the Office have been proportional to its growth.

"We've had that autonomy and flexibility to create, and there's nothing like being able to create something that has worked," he said. "And this has worked, more so than any institution in the country."

University President John T. Casteen, III said it is this organizational strength that is Turner's great accomplishment at the University.

"Several very capable deans have worked over there, but Rick Turner's success in developing a staff with more complex skills and strengths than were there before sets his tenure apart from all who came before," Casteen said. "And he has kept top people for the long term."

Still, Turner's high profile in the community -- he is a regular presence both on and off Grounds -- coupled with his no-holds-barred approach has earned him more than one enemy. And while his critics often accuse him of being radical, Turner rejects the label.

"I don't consider myself a radical," he said. "I consider those folks who might call me a radical to not really understand the term, not understand the progression of history."

Turner also said those who would perceive him as a radical do not understand the specific role he plays at the University.

"Many people don't understand that I must protect African-American students from the ravish of institutional racism as much as I can, and oftentimes I'm doing that alone," he said. "No one else speaks out on these issues. I have to. I have to look around and see what's happening, and sometimes that's a lonely feeling."

Myra Franklin-Jones, a College graduate student and two-time president of the Black Student Alliance, said she worries not about what Turner chooses to say but how he is understood in the community.

"I know that Dean Turner has the historical memory and the intellectual capacity to approach issues with all seriousness," Franklin-Jones said. "I worry about how he is perceived, not how he is."

But Turner was not always on the fast track to where he is now.

He grew up in Hartford, Connecticut and said he was influenced by several positive role models who still stand out in his memory.

"I was in school, I was in Vietnam, I was wayward," he said. "I had good mentors -- very good mentors, who I consider 'race men.' Men who cared about the community, were involved in the community, men who wanted to mentor other young men, men who would give you a book on your history, men who knew the value of education."

Turner's mother is a longtime activist in the NAACP, and as a child Turner went door-to-door with her trying to register voters, an issue that particularly resonated with her.

"My mother was -- still is -- big on voter registration," Turner said. "So I came by that pretty honestly."

Though he does not mention it often, Turner also is a distant relative of Malcolm X through his mother's side (though close enough that his mother's maiden name is the same as Malcolm X's original surname, Little).

After attending Linfield College in Oregon on a basketball scholarship, Turner eventually ended up at Stanford University, where he earned his Ph.D. in the academic achievement and retention of black students at white institutions. From there, Turner took an administrative position at the University of California-Irvine and remained there until he came to the University of Virginia.

Turner said he believes he is perfectly suited for his current position.

"Being at the University of Virginia was a perfect match for me because of the specificity of my job," he said. "I knew exactly what I was supposed to do. I've grown so much in this job."

Although his job at the University is largely administrative, Turner also regularly teaches a class, "Sociology of the African-American Community" (SOC 410), which Franklin-Jones described as one of his most meaningful contributions to the University.

"Taking that class will actually change your life," she said. "You learn how to be the best student you can be because he doesn't let you get away with anything."

The class involves a semester-long project which often has an immediate social impact, Franklin-Jones said, adding that her own project was to found the University chapter of the NAACP.

"His syllabus is one of the most rigorous set of requirements that I have ever encountered at U.Va.," she said. "It forces people to take the discourse of race seriously."

And though he readily admits he has been critical of the University when necessary, he also speaks with great pride of what the school has accomplished in the past two decades.

"In spite of the fact that this institution was born in segregation, I do think the University has made more of a positive track record for the recruitment and enrollment of African-American students than most institutions in the country," he said. "I think that they've made an earnest commitment."

Turner said he is particularly proud to have been a part of the recent President's Commission on Diversity and Equity, which delivered a comprehensive report to the Board of Visitors last semester.

The Commission "has great potential because it is sanctioned by the Board of Visitors," he said. "You have Board of Visitor members that are looking at it intensely to see whether the recommendations will become a functioning part of the University."

Turner also spoke optimistically about the racial incident reporting system the University currently is developing, saying he believes it will be one of the best in the country.

Looking toward the future, Turner said he would like to see African-American enrollment up to 14 or 15 percent of the student body. According to data from the Office of Institutional Assessment, African-American students currently constitute about 9 percent of undergraduates and 4 percent of graduate students. Both figures have remained relatively steady since 2000.

As far as what type of person he would like to see eventually replace him, Turner emphasized the need for each dean to build on his predecessor's legacy.

"Each dean has been a better dean for the University," Turner said. "I'd like a person that's going to be conscious of the mission of this position. Be conscious of the fact that he or she must be a strong advocate."

Turner himself recently became the president of the local chapter of the NAACP.

"My mother, who is 86 years old and has been in the NAACP for 65 years, told me that I should stop complaining about the dormancy of the NAACP in Charlottesville and join, so that's what I've done," he said. "Based on my interests, some people in the community thought that I would make a good president."

And though he rarely foregoes an opportunity to speak about history, for Turner, this is the present.

"This is my movement now," he said. "This is my civil rights movement."

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