The meeting was sponsored by Delia Johnson, Deputy Director at the U.S. Information Agency, Office of Civil Rights.

Andrew Strojny, from the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, gave a presentation on Title VI that addressed the following issues: What does Title VI require? What is

Federal financial assistance? What is a recipient? Who is the beneficiary? Who is covered?

What kinds of discrimination are prohibited? How do you enforce Title VI? What are the

differences between Title VI and Title XI?

Mr. Strojny mentioned a newsletter, the Civil Rights Forum, that has informative articles about civil rights issues. The Civil Rights Forum is published quarterly by the U.S. Department of

Justice, Civil Rights Division, Coordination and Review Section. People interested in having their names added to the distribution list of this newsletter should send an e-mail to cor.crt@usdoj.gov.

Mr. Strojny also said a Title VI Legal Manual and a Title VI Investigation Procedures Manual were available for viewing and downloading on the Civil Rights Division's website at:

Mr. Strojny indicated that donations by federal agencies of surplus equipment to schools or other organizations are covered by Title VI. Consequently, it is the federal agency that

donates the property that is responsible for ensuring under Title VI that the recipient of that surplus computer or other surplus property is not guilty of discrimination under a basis covered by Title VI. To carry out their responsibilities, Mr. Strojny strongly suggested that, at a minimum, federal agencies get a signed assurance of nondiscrimination from recipients before the transfer of the surplus equipment is made.

Mr. Strojny mentioned that the Civil Rights Division's Coordination and Review Section offers a 2-day Title VI training course. The organizers of this course prefer to have at least

fifteen participants, but not more than thirty-five. The course is free, but agencies are responsible for the travel and per diem expenses of instructors when the course is taught outside the

Washington, DC metropolitan area. The bad news is that this course is booked through March 1999. However, if you would like to request this course for your agency, you should write a

letter to: Bill Lann Lee, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC 20530, and a carbon copy to Merrily Friedlander, Chief, Coordination & Review Section, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice, P.O. Box 66560, Washington, DC 20035-6560.

ELECTIONS

Charles Miller, from the Defense Logistics Agency and Chair of the Council's Nominating Committee, monitored the election of officers for the 1999-2000 term. Luther Santiful from the

Department of the Army was re-elected President. Jorge Ponce from the Treasury Department was re-elected Vice-Chair, and Delia Johnson from the U.S. Information Agency

was elected as the other Vice-Chair. Sharon Holmes became Treasurer (the first time the Council has had one), and Deborah Eyer, also from the Department of the Army, was elected

Secretary. Thanks to Charles, and to the other members of the Nominating Committee (Amy Briggs from the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation, and Levester Spearman from the Department of Defense Education Activities) for a job well done.

These regulations are in their final rule stage and were published in the Federal Register on November 9, 1998. The relevant pages are 61383-61385 and 62480-62483. What does this

mean? I contacted the Office of Management and Budget and was told that EEOC is drafting the final regulations. Those agencies and organizations which submitted comments

previously will get another chance to comment on the latest draft. EEOC remains adamant in making the decisions from its Administrative Judges final rather than recommending.

MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY

Please review the Council's membership directory to ensure the information is correct. Please fax any corrections to David Chilton from the Department of Agriculture's Rural

Development at (202) 692-0276. We are particularly interested in getting your e-mail addresses.

FDR CONFERENCE

Council members who are interested in suggesting topics, speakers, or their own proposals for the 1999 Federal Dispute Resolution Conference should fax this information to Cynthia

Matthews (EEOC) at (202) 663-7003 or Kathy Gause (Architect of the Capitol) at

(202) 226-0198 by noon on December 23, 1998.

The Council wishes to thank Kathy Gause for her outstanding service as Secretary and Vice-Chair of our organization. We really appreciate Kathy’s dedication to civil rights and her

conflict-resolution skills. Kathy has told us that she will continue to support the Council in the future.

DECEMBER MEETING

Our Holiday Party will be held on December 15 at 12:00 pm in the State Department's Daniel Webster Room. The new EEOC Chairwoman, Ida Castro, has been invited. The price for the

buffet is $20, which will cover the luncheon for Ida Castro. If you plan to attend, please get in touch with Dorothy Taylor at (202) 647-9294. As in previous years, Thomas Jefferson, JR., will be hosting this event.

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