Town hall meeting addresses racial issues on campus
By Sharita Forrest, Assistant Editor 217-244-1072; slforres@illinois.edu
A Bias Incident Investigation Team has been assembled to address incidents of intolerance and insensitivity on campus, and the Student Code of Conduct and campus judicial system are being reviewed, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Renee Romano told about 200 people who packed the Courtyard Café of the Illini Union for a town hall meeting to discuss racial issues on campus.
The Oct. 23 meeting began with comments from Romano and a panel discussion by Jorge Chapa, director of the Center on Democracy in a Multiracial Society; Belden Fields, professor emeritus of political science and chair of the Urbana-Champaign Senate’s Equal Opportunity Committee; student trustee Chime Asonye; and Justin Randall, president of the Illinois Student Senate.
Students voiced concerns about parties that promote stereotyping and a lack of diversity in the residence halls and across campus. Some students criticized university officials for not taking more stringent action against the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity after it sponsored a race-themed “Tacos and Tequila” party.
Campus officials spoke about many initiatives that support diversity, but added that the university also cannot impinge upon people’s rights to free speech and freedom of expression, particularly in a learning environment. Romano said administrators are talking with officials at other universities to learn how they address certain types of incidents.
Fields, a scholar on human rights, suggested several amendments to the student code that would require the university to take action in specific instances: when there are threats or inferred threats of violence, incitement of violence or condonement of past acts, abusive taunts and epithets, race-themed parties and acts that perpetuate negative stereotyping, and instances that exclude people from the “full range of opportunities.” Fields said that the university might want to consider the effects of the fraternity and sorority systems on the campus climate because the greek system is de facto exclusionist.
Romano urged students to report acts of intolerance and bias, reiterating that “every incident brought to our attention will be investigated.”
A group of African-American students presented Romano with a 13-item statement of demands that resulted from discussions at an Oct. 18 ‘Black Out’ town hall meeting on campus, which was organized in response to the racial climate at the UI and the Jena 6 incident in Louisiana, in which six black high-school students were arrested for beating a white student after nooses were hung in a schoolyard tree.
The demands included mandatory cultural sensitivity training for students and administrative staff members, increasing recruitment of African-American students and administrators, and reinstating the three-day orientation program for African-American students. The group also called for “public disclosure of who is running ‘Inclusive Illinois’ so that African American students can be included in its decision-making process” and for the university to address “segregated housing patterns and policies as part of ‘Inclusive Illinois.’ ”
Romano said she had reviewed the demographics of the residence hall population and that while there are larger percentages of Latino and black students in Florida Avenue Residence Halls, it is because most students get their first choices when selecting housing. University Housing Director Jack Collins said that while some universities use randomized assignment systems to help diversify residence hall populations, housing is reluctant to do so because it had concerns about forcing students to live in units they had not chosen and doing so might isolate some students.
Chapa presented a slide show titled “Countering Race-hate in Cyberspace,” and talked about recent acts of hatred and insensitivity at other universities and at the UI.
Stephen Kaufman, professor emeritus of cell biology, read a statement criticizing the UI Board of Trustees and campus officials for their disposition of Chief Illiniwek. “After 18 years of debate, Illiniwek no longer dances, but the music that stereotypes American Indian culture and the Illiniwek logo and the bold ‘Chief’ statements on T-shirts and other paraphernalia continue to make university support of ethnic and racial stereotyping absolutely clear,” said Kaufman, whom Romano had invited to speak at the meeting. “As a result, ignorance, animosity and racial tension have continued to flourish on the Urbana campus.”
On April 10, the campus will host a conference titled “Race, Diversity and the Campus Climate at the UI,” and is seeking scholars to present papers as well as panelists and posters for the event, Chapa said.
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