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Pioneering civil rights advocate for students slated for state honor
BY MATTHEW STONE
Staff Writer Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel 06/07/2008

BY MATTHEW STONE

Staff Writer

An Augusta foundation that supports projects promoting social change is recognizing a Gardiner man for his work establishing and overseeing more than 220 civil rights teams at schools across Maine.

The group, Maine Initiatives, will honor Thomas Harnett, the state's Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Education, at a Thursday awards dinner in Woolwich. The foundation will also honor three other Maine residents -- from Deer Isle and Portland -- at the dinner.

Harnett directs the Attorney General's Civil Rights Team Project, which is charged with enforcing the Maine Civil Rights Act. As part of the law's enforcement, Harnett has guided the development of more than 220 civil rights teams at public schools in Maine.

Maine Initiatives, which began in 1993, funds organizations the group sees as working for social justice, issuing three-year, $40,000 grants. The foundation also selects honorees each year.

"We select people who embody the spirit of social change in Maine," Maine Initiatives director Charlie Bernstein said. "We honor people who are especially unsung heroes. Thom has dedicated (his career) to justice for all. He's truly a selfless person and we're very proud to be honoring him."

When the state's civil rights legislation was expanded in 1992, law enforcement officials became aware of many instances of discrimination involving young people, jeopardizing their safety at school, Harnett said.

"The targets in those cases were generally students of color or students being targeted because of their sexual orientation," he said. "We know from both common sense and studies that students who feel unsafe in school, their learning is compromised."

Teachers, administrators and law enforcement officials would not make progress in improving school safety, unless students took a lead role, he said. Civil rights teams, as a result, have evolved at most schools as student-led task forces.

"The students know more about the climate of the school than any group in the school," Harnett said.

Since 1996, civil rights teams have formed at the high school, middle school and elementary school levels. With support from the Attorney General's office, the groups, among other activities, hold events and assemblies to raise awareness of students' diversity and distribute surveys to evaluate students' attitudes toward those different from them.

The Attorney General's office also sponsors regional training sessions for students involved with their schools' civil rights teams. In addition, the Civil Rights Team Project each spring hosts a statewide conference in Augusta for civil rights teams. No conference, however, was held this spring due to reduced funding -- the result of a tight budget year.

The statewide and regional events show students involved with civil rights teams that they are not alone in their efforts, Harnett said.

"A student might be in a small school in Aroostook County," he said, "but they realize they're part of a much larger effort trying to change what is business as usual."

The Civil Rights Team Project has recently been the subject of some political controversy. This year, Michael Heath and the Christian Civic League are targeting the initiative with a petition effort to repeal the state's ban against discrimination based on sexual orientation. Heath's proposal would also eliminate funding for the Civil Rights Team Project.

"The young people are being propagandized by an ideology that allows that all sex is good sex as long as it's consensual," Heath said of the project. "We're concerned about the morality of morals associated with those discussions."

While he did not directly address Heath's petition effort, Harnett acknowledged some have criticized the civil rights program.

"I am always stunned that people would choose to distort what we do and what they really know we do," Harnett said, "and would compromise the safety of any young person in our schools."

Matthew Stone -- 623-3811, Ext. 435

mstone@centralmaine.com

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