Local Organization Wants To Bring Diversity Program For Scientists To Quissett Campus
A Falmouth organization is calling for the Jonsson Conference Center, currently listed for sale by the National Academy of Sciences, to be put to use as a home for a diversity-driven network of scientists called PAIR-UP.
The Jewel Cobb Action Coalition, cofounded by Ruth S. Gainer of High Street, Woods Hole, and Paula Pace of Jewel Cobb Road, Woods Hole, initially started as a group of residents with the shared goal of changing the name of what was formerly Agassiz Road to what is now known as Jewel Cobb Road. The call to change the name of the road came after revelations regarding the racist views and practices of its original namesake, Louis Agassiz. The group thought that Jewel Plummer Cobb, a distinguished African American biologist, was deserving of memorialization and submitted a petition with 600 signatures to the Falmouth Select Board. The name change was approved in November 2020 and a new sign was installed the following May.
The Jewel Cobb Action Coalition, or JCAC, has now shifted its focus to calling for the repurposing of the National Academy’s Quissett Campus, currently listed for sale at $27.5 million. Ms. Gainer said the group, which has expanded since its initial handful of neighborhood members, would like to see the property continue to be used for science and education rather than become a vacation home.
Ideally, the JCAC would like the Jonsson Center to be used as a home for the Partnering to Advance Imaging Research for URM Scientists Program, or PAIR-UP. The program was founded by George M. Langford, a professor emeritus at Syracuse University. It is a network of African American scientists who use advanced microscopy in biomedical science fields that provides training and community-building opportunities.
In addition to preserving the scientific aspect of the Jonsson Center, the JCAC believes that allowing PAIR-UP to move in will bring an important aspect of diversity to the Woods Hole area and the scientific institutions that operate there, and serve as a better solution to the dire need for housing, specifically for workers, that Falmouth has experienced in recent years.
“The Town of Falmouth has created a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion position,” Ms. Gainer said in an email. “The scientific institutions here are working together for a diversity initiative following Robert Livingston’s 2018 study. Both entities recognize that a thriving, productive community needs an inclusive resident population. That will not be achieved if we become a high-end resort for one-percenters.”
In a letter published in the September 17 edition of the Falmouth Enterprise, Ms. Gainer and Ms. Pace argued that high real estate costs are a direct deterrent for achieving diversity and equity in the community.
“The sale of the National Academy of Sciences estate should be viewed in the context of real estate developments that have contributed to the housing crisis in Falmouth and across the country,” they wrote. “Enabling the purchase of the Jonsson Center, with the input of Woods Hole’s scientific institutions, and at a reasonable price, to accommodate a program like PAIR-UP would affirm our community’s values by recognizing the unique role of science here, our sincere commitment to diversity and inclusion, and our responsibility to create a level playing field for scientists of color.”
The JCAC is calling for the National Academy of Sciences to reconsider the price of the Jonsson Center so that it can be repurposed in this way, and those efforts have not gone unnoticed. After the letter was published in the Enterprise, Ms. Gainer said, even more people have expressed interest in repurposing the Jonsson Center as a home for PAIR-UP. Ms. Gainer said the JCAC is working closely to ally its efforts with those of other organizations, including the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, that all share the goal of maintaining the property as a scientific nonprofit educational center.
“Ideally, it would be best if the NAS continues to maintain a scientific focus at the Quissett campus, and sponsors professor Langford’s PAIR-UP program as part of it,” Ms. Gainer said. “This will be more feasible if the NAS does not sell the property or, at the very least, requests a more-reasonable price, enabling the Falmouth/Woods Hole community to participate.”
The JCAC is in the midst of discussions with other local groups, including Mr. Langford, to give this idea legs. Ms. Gainer said she hopes that their work will draw the attention of others who would like to see the Jonsson Center remain a scientific institution and see Woods Hole and Falmouth become more diverse populations, both racially and otherwise.
“In the interest of the community, in the interest of the housing situation, we’re going step by step,” Ms. Gainer said. “The first step was the [street] sign, the next step is bringing PAIR-UP to Woods Hole for more diversity here. And we want more economic diversity, that’s something we’re going to work on. I know there are a few housing organizations working on affordable housing and we have been learning more and more about that issue and we will focus on it more, but right now our group action is focusing on the Jonsson Center campus and PAIR-UP and seeing what we can do about that.”