U. leaders invite student feedback on improving social justice

U. leaders invite student feedback on improving social justice

(Jeffrey D. Allred/Deseret News)


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SALT LAKE CITY — Friday was a day of listening at the University of Utah.

Echoing protests and demonstrations from racial tension on campuses across the country, students at the U. shared experiences and asked hard questions at the invitation of university leaders.

President David Pershing joined students in a march from his office to the Union Building, where he and other administrators asked students to lend their voices to willing ears and give honest feedback about the social climate of the university.

"Across the nation, students at lots of universities have been raising their voices in protest and concern about issues of bias and prejudice. We're here today to talk about that and to work with you," Pershing said prior to the march. "We want the university to be a place where every single one of you can feel safe and feel respected and can get a great education that will help you for the rest of your life.

"That's what today is about: trying to help us learn how to do that better."

Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred/Deseret News
Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred/Deseret News

More than 100 students came to show support for social equity and other causes. Some of them held signs with simple messages: "Stand with students of color." "Equity not equality." "More action, less talk."

About a dozen students took the mic.

"Today we're not representing any particular group. We represent something bigger. We represent accountability," Ivan Ottaviano, a student, said to university leaders. "Today as students raise their voices about their experiences about the racial climate on this campus and the strife we experience on a daily basis, I want every single one of you up there to ask yourselves, 'What will I do to find an immediate solution?'"

Several students asked for uniform policies encouraging acceptance and better services for minorities, such as mandatory diversity training for all faculty and students, policies preventing retaliation for reporting discrimination, and education equity reform for K-12 schools in the area. Other students said more support staff and capital facilities should be dedicated specifically to helping minority students.

Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred/Deseret News
Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred/Deseret News

Students also called for greater diversity among the student body, faculty and staff. Nathan Manuel, a member of the Tohono O'odham Nation based in northern Arizona, expressed frustration that so few students on campus are Native American, and that more financial assistance should be provided for those students.

"What does it really mean to be Ute proud?" Manuel said. "That drum and feathers are sacred to us."

Pershing said the university this year has added a new position dedicated to working with prospective Native American college students and assisting those on campus. It's a big job for one person, he said, but it's a start.

"One of our biggest problems in hiring faculty is there just aren't enough," Pershing said.

Overall, minorities account for one-third of the student body — that's up from less than 25 percent last year, according to Kathryn Stockton, interim associate vice president for equity and diversity. But minorities account for only 15 percent of university faculty.

Stockton said Friday's discussion wasn't spurred by any particular event, but it was intended to give faculty and administrators an honest look at how students feel. She said the university is planning to have additional forums to discuss student needs and improvements that are made. But it can be a difficult process in an institution with almost 32,000 students.

"We've got to find a way to communicate what we are doing and make sure that it really gets to the student level in the deepest sense, because many, many good initiatives have begun within the last year and a half," Stockton said. "I think today was our day to say, 'Not quick enough. Not enough. How can we accelerate?'

"To really hear from students and faculty and staff today where they feel we are is deeply, deeply important."

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