Last spring Chancellor Peterson made four pledges to the CU community regarding students’ concerns on the racial atmosphere of the campus. An update on these pledges was made Wednesday at a meeting between student leaders and CU officials.
Bronson Hilliard, CU director of media relations and spokesperson who spoke on behalf of Chancellor Peterson, said he believes progress has been made with these pledges, but it is not over.
“We think we’re making progress, some of it substantial,” Hilliard said. “We point primarily to the changes made with the CU Independent creating a Diversity Advisory Board and the divorcing of the paper from the curriculum.”
The students called for constantly demonstrated success in advancing these pledges and Hilliard says this can be seen in the most recent freshman class.
“This fall we had the most diverse class we’ve ever had,” Hilliard said. “And we’ve had the most academically qualified class which we say is an indicator. Is this an indicator of perfection? No. We acknowledge there’s a lot of work to be done on everyone’s part.”
According to the University of Colorado Student Union Director of Diversity, Alexis Smith, UCSU is still waiting for progress.
“(Progress) is always ongoing,” Smith said. “For UCSU’s part what we are really pushing for is that the dean of the journalism school enforces that in every syllabus there is a portion where the professor is addressing cultural competency in relation to their course subject.”
Smith said she believes that the changes need to be campus-wide as well in order for the situation to improve.
“I think what we’re really pushing for is cultural competency and diversity being addressed in all classes on campus,” Smith said. “It needs to be infused throughout the whole and needs to be invested in and taken seriously by the faculty.”
For students who want to start a dialogue with the faculty about diversity in the curriculum and how faculty handles diversity Hilliard says that they are more then happy to help start that discussion and provide opportunities to reach out to faculty, but students can’t expect an ultimatum to be presented.
“We have a shared governance model of running the university,” Hilliard said. “We can’t just decree these things from on high (through the chancellor).”
As for CU fulfilling the pledge to make the school more inclusive, welcoming, and safe, Smith said from her personal experience changes have been only monetary, and minimal.
“I’m not going to speak on behalf of an entire community,” Smith said. “But I don’t think they feel safer.”
Some students on campus also said not much has changed.
“First of all, this campus is not diverse, which is a common misconception,” said Carola Belton, 19, a freshman international affairs major.
Belton said she thinks some students on campus are racist.
“It depends,” Belton said. “Some people are very open with people of different races and ethnicities. But is there still racism on this campus? Definitely.”
Belton said there have been incidents in some of her classes where people don’t listen to her because of her ethnicity.
“Fifty years ago you could see (racism) with the separate drinking fountains, but now it’s a mental thing,” Belton said.
Hilliard said he thinks progress is still underway at CU.
“Diversity is not a policy, but a core value,” Hilliard said. “And it’s a value that we want to infuse in everything we do. That’s the place we want to get to.”
To see the university’s pledges go to its Web site
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Emily Zarka at Emily.zarka@colorado.edu.
1 comment
Carola happens to be a smokin hot Latina babe. If people aren’t listening to you it’s probably because you are distracting.