Series: The Ten O'Clock News
Date: 1988-05-10
Duration: 00:02:27

Subject: Harvard University; Affirmative action programs
People: Bell, Derrick; Jones, Marcus; Vorenberg, James; Wilkins, Robert;
Geography: Cambridge (Mass.)|

Clip Description
Marcus Jones reports that fifty students at Harvard Law School have occupied the dean's office to demand an increase in minority faculty at the school. Jones notes that the students have presented the school with a list of demands, including the promotion of Derrick Bell (Professor, Harvard Law School) to the position of dean of the school. Jones interviews Robert Wilkins (Harvard Black Law Students Association) about the lack of diversity among faculty members and about the students' demands. Jones reports that students at universities across the nation are protesting racism and a lack of diversity on college campuses. Jones' report includes footage of Harvard Law students in the Dean's office and footage from Frontline of a campus protest against racism.

Series Description
A local program aimed at the Boston audience, The Ten O'Clock News debuted on January 15, 1976. Its two immediate predecessors were The Reporters and Evening Compass. A news and public affairs show focusing on neighborhood, local and state issues, The Reporters was produced and broadcast on WGBH from 1970 to 1973. The Reporters was then replaced by Evening Compass, which expanded into a twice-nightly news broadcast during the tense moments of Boston's busing crisis. On the air from 1973 to 1975, Evening Compass found an audience through its in-depth coverage of school desegregation in Boston, which began in 1974. The Ten O'Clock News stood out as an in-depth news program. It strove for a balance between local and national stories, between politics and the Arts. The last The Ten O'Clock News program was broadcast on May 30, 1991.

See also: http://main.wgbh.org/ton/programs/5770_01