The Triangle

Issue date: 6/2/06 Section: Ed-Op

If University President Constantine Papadakis is guilty of anything, it's being well connected. Recently, he unveiled a new co-op abroad program on the Greek island of Crete. He formed a partnership with the Technological Educational Institute of Crete, so students in the program can find housing and take classes while employed. He also had a wealthy Cretan friend of his donate $1 million to provide stipends for students in the program - with students who aren't of Cretan decent sent to the back of the line.

Consider that for a moment. These co-op jobs in Crete are going to Cretans first. Clearly, the aim here is not to promote a diverse workplace and educate students about other cultures. No, this program is just Cretans helping Cretans get jobs in Crete.

Imagine if this were for another ancestry. If a co-op program in Philadelphia gave preference to students of Caucasian descent, throngs of outraged people would likely descend upon the University with lawsuits and protests, and rightly so. We wouldn't stand for racial discrimination by whites, and we shouldn't stand for it by Cretans either.

It is simply outrageous that President Papadakis would involve the University in this. Nowhere else at Drexel are such discriminatory hiring practices allowed. We should not permit our co-op program to be sullied with this.

We do not doubt the sincerity of Dr. Nicholas Vidalakis, the wealthy businessman and philanthropist of Cretan causes who the program is named after, but we take severe issue with the process he's chosen. His desire to help Drexel students of Cretan decent reconnect with their roots is not immoral, but it should not be realized in our co-op program. Instead, Vidalakis and Papadakis should have established a private foundation outside of the University.

We don't oppose new programs that give our co-op program "international flavor," but it should not do so at the expense of fairness. The University should continue in the spirit of its non-discrimination policies and immediately open up this program to all students, regardless of ancestry. If it does not right this wrong, it will not only likely find itself in legal trouble, as this has "lawsuit" written all over it, but it will also harm its students and its reputation.

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