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Pious Perverts See other Pious Perverts Articles Title: School wants diversity, but kind that pays - suit An African-American educator hired to promote diversity at the tony Riverdale Country School contends he was told to avoid the children of black celebrities and find more "full-paying Asians and non-Jews," the Daily News has learned. In a lawsuit set to be filed today in Bronx Supreme Court, Shereem Herndon-Brown says he was hired as admissions director to increase diversity at the $31,200-a-year Riverdale Country School's middle and upper schools. But he alleges his efforts were thwarted by Headmaster John Johnson. Johnson persuaded Herndon-Brown to avoid recruiting children of African-American celebrities, like Sean (Diddy) Combs and Spike Lee, because such parents "would not be a good addition to the parent body," according to the lawsuit. "I thought I was going to make a huge impact in bringing diversity to the Riverdale Country School," Herndon-Brown, 32, told The News. "I went to fairs and promoted the school, but I was not valued." Herndon-Brown, who landed the position on May 3, 2005, after working as a seventh-grade English teacher at the school for three years, alleges Johnson refused to offer sufficient financial aid to needy minorities who met academic requirements. Johnson told Herndon-Brown the school's scholarship budget was too small to increase minority enrollment, the suit contends. The admissions director said Johnson told him to recruit more "full-paying Asians and non-Jews" - an apparent reference to the school's "large percentage of Jewish students," according to the suit. The suit contends that black enrollment at the school decreased over the last decade while the number of Asian and Hispanic students rose. School officials did not return phone messages. On its Web site, the school says it does not discriminate. The school also says for the 2006-2007 school year, more than $4.3 million in financial aid has been awarded to approximately 20% of the 1,060-member student body. Herndon-Brown said he stepped down in April. "My client's mandate was to increase the economic, ethnic and religious ethnicity of the student body, but he was never given an opportunity to do his job," said his attorney Eddie Hayes. "My client quickly came to realize that his appointment was intended only as window dressing."
Poster Comment: "Diversity" is an industry, not a principle.
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