Chancellor Jimmy Cheek, Vice Chancellor of Diversity and Inclusion Rickey Hall and other administrators met with the UT Diversity Matters Coalition Wednesday to discuss the university’s reaction to the group’s demands and recent state legislature activities.
This was the first meeting in which the general student body was also invited to attend.
Representatives from the Diversity Matters Coalition brought up many concerns ranging from the Stop Bias initiative, mandatory inclusivity training, gender-neutral restrooms, accessibility on campus, and most notably, how the university should respond to the state legislature.
Stop Bias Reports
The discussion began with a conversation on various improvements that could be made to how Stop Bias reports are processed.
The coalition proposed that administration should implement a type of mass email alert when Stop Bias reports are made similar to the UTPD alerts.
“That’s something that we will need to explore, and I am happy to do that,” Dean of Students Melissa Shivers said.
The coalition also brought up concerns from students who had filed Stop Bias reports that had stated that they did not want to be contacted were still being contacted.
Dean Shivers said that she would get in contact with Stop Bias employees in order to prevent this from occurring. She also affirmed that Stop Bias would reform its contact protocol.
Mandatory Inclusivity Training
One of the more fervent demands discussed was mandatory inclusivity training for all students. This inclusivity training would cover issues such as LGBT+ sensitivity, racial consciousness and disability awareness.
Hall acknowledged that this training would be helpful for the university, but said it would be incredibly difficult to make this mandatory for all students. He suggested that inclusivity training should still be encouraged, but not made mandatory.
Thomas Tran, junior in anthropology, explained to Hall that the necessity for inclusivity training is not for those who are interested in these seminars, it is for those who would not normally attend events that discuss racial, LGBT+ and disability issues.
Gender-Neutral Restrooms
The coalition also raised the issue of gender-neutral restrooms on campus. They asked the university to renew its original commitment to add gender-neutral restrooms to every new building and every renovation on campus.
Dave Irvin, Vice Chancellor of Facilities Services, assured the coalition that the university was still committed to this and are doing so with the new Orange and White Halls under construction.
The Coalition also pushed for gender-neutral restrooms to be included in online campus maps and to be referred to as “gender-neutral restrooms” rather than the current “family-style” restrooms.
UT administration was hesitant to commit to the online mapping and were not open to changing the name of the restrooms on campus.
Increased Accessibility on Campus
Later on, the administration and coalition discussed how to make the campus a more accessible environment for students with disabilities.
Within the coalition’s list of demands are more ramps and automatic doors on campus buildings as well as points of rescue and push buttons for emergency situations.
Irvin explained that they are working on implementing more ramps and automatic doors on campus as well as push buttons, but also explained that it would be financially straining to install points of rescue in every on-campus residential building.
Response to the State Legislature
Nearing the end of the discussion, the coalition asked how the UT administration is going to respond should the bills to defund the Office for Diversity and Inclusion be passed into law.
Chancellor Cheek explained that if the Office for Diversity and Inclusion is defunded, that there will still be avenues to promote diversity on campus. Particularly, he emphasized the university’s role in recruiting a more diverse student body.
“We will continue on this campus to promote and work for a more diverse faculty, staff and student body,” Cheek said.
Chancellor Cheek was later confronted with the issue of the Pride Center, and if it would still exist after the defunding of the Office for Diversity and Inclusion. He responded that unless there was some law that was passed in the near future that would make the Pride Center’s existence illegal, that it would still be there in the fall of 2016. However, he could not ensure that it would still be staffed with the same people that are currently employed at the Pride Center.
Senior member of the Diversity Matters Coalition, JT Turner called for Chancellor Cheek to release a public statement denouncing the state legislature’s action and calling for Governor Haslam to veto the upcoming bills.
Chancellor Cheek said that he would “evaluate all forms of communication” and personally contact Nashville representatives, but did not promise a public statement.
Turner retorted saying that this was unsatisfactory, and that Chancellor Cheek needs to take an active position against the bills that place the Office for Diversity and Inclusion in jeopardy.
Over thirty students attended this meeting. At the end of the meeting, administration was also presented with messages on the back of withdrawal forms as a statement saying that there will be financial repercussions for the university should the demands not be addressed.
