National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, whose stance on affirmative action drew nationwide headlines last week, generally took a centrist approach to race and gender preferences during her years as provost of Stanford University in the 1990s, according to supporters and some critics on campus.
Rice antagonized some female faculty members and other supporters of affirmative action by asserting that in one important arena -- decisions on whether junior faculty should be promoted to tenured positions, which guarantee lifetime employment -- affirmative action should not apply.
Her remarks on that point have figured in a four-year investigation by the federal Department of Labor into the university's personnel practices.
A spotlight was put on Rice's views on affirmative action a week ago, when she issued a statement on President Bush's opposition to the race-based student admissions practices at the University of Michigan that are being challenged in the U.S. Supreme Court. Rice said she backed Bush, but went on to say that "it is appropriate to use race as one factor among others in achieving a diverse student body."
To Rice's admirers and her critics from her days at Stanford, the position had a familiar ring.
"You couldn't say she was a fervent, outspoken advocate of affirmative action," said Albert Camarillo, a Stanford history professor specializing in American 20th century race and ethnicity issues. "She was generally supportive of affirmative action, with limits."
"She's not Ward Connerly," said Cecilia L. Ridgeway, a sociology professor, referring to the architect of California's Proposition 209, an anti-affirmative action measure that passed in 1996. "She does not want to say, 'Oh, it [affirmative action] is all wrong.' "
In the area of affirmative action as it applies to student admissions, Rice had a fairly low profile at Stanford.
The school was considered to have a good track record among the elite universities in enrolling underrepresented minorities. It maintained enrollment levels of 8% for blacks and 11% for Latinos during Rice's time as provost.
James M. Montoya, a former administrator at Stanford who directed admissions and then served as a vice provost for student affairs reporting to Rice, said Rice "was really serious about making certain our diversity programs were well-grounded."
