ABSTRACT
During the final 2 years in my job as dean of our school of applied psychology at Rutgers, I had spent at least one third of my time as chair of a group called “The Committee to Advance Our Common Purposes,” which was charged with the formidable task of “strengthening the social fabric of the university” by combating intergroup animosities—racial tensions, homophobic attacks, and the like—that were flaring on campus in those times. I was not responsible for the name of the committee; that was the work of the late Edward J. Bloustein, then president of Rutgers, who had asked me to organize the activities of the group. Bloustein himself was very active in the effort. He set aside funds to support our activities and appointed an executive committee that included the vice president for student affairs and the vice president for personnel. We met briefly as a steering committee every week, and went on about our business in between.
