PCORE Information

Creation of Commission
Emory University began as a rural Methodist college that was chartered by the Georgia State Legislature in 1836.

In the midst of the Civil Rights Movement, the University was integrated – a significant step that symbolized the beginning of real change in an increasingly progressive South.

In the mid 1960s, blacks at Emory began to collectively voice their concerns regarding racial issues on campus. Specifically, demonstrations protesting the conditions of workers in Cox Hall characterized the efforts to address certain issues of racism as they existed in the day-to-day operations at Emory.

These demonstrations polarized the races and led, in part, to the then University president’s imposition of an injunction banning gatherings of groups of more than five people. Blacks viewed this prohibition as the University’s way of undermining their efforts to organize around issues of racism and led to their further alienation. For blacks at Emory University it was a time of significant struggle individually and collectively.

The University first began to address these issues in 1969 with efforts to develop an affirmative action program. In 1976 the program was updated, but many felt that a significant number of the concerns still had not been addressed. In 1977, a group of black faculty formed the Emory Black Caucus. Members focused on bringing attention to, and bringing about resolution for, race-related problems that were being ignored by the administration.

In 1979, President James T. Laney established the President’s Commission on the Status of Minorities (PCSM). The Commission was charged with monitoring and reporting to the President on the status of minority groups on campus.

Since that time, PCSM has spearheaded efforts to address a wide range of minority concerns ranging from faculty, staff and student recruitment to student retention and quality of life.

In 2004, the President’s Commission on the Status of Minorities renamed itself the President’s Commission on Race and Ethnicity (PCORE) to more accurately reflect the focus of the Commission.

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Purpose of Commission
The purposes of this Commission are:

• To serve as a forum for discussion and analysis of issues of race and ethnicity on campus and of national import.
• To develop and supports programs and activities that enhance the presence of persons of color and strengthen the community of color at Emory University.
• To gather data as well as conduct and publicize studies on the status of race and ethnicity at Emory University.
• To recommend actions that improves the representation, development, and success of people of color in the Emory community to the University President.
• To support the principles of equal opportunity based on the University’s Affirmative Action Plan.

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