The Fight Continues…

The Fight Continues… Updating, discussing and strategizing the ongoing negotiations

Students: Special Interest housing that pertains to culture should be changed to “on-campus cultural housing” Want it to be removed from the regular housing pool (i.e. permanent) Bollinger: Guarantees current special interest housing for cultural groups will be made permanent for next year Wants to begin serious conversation about “nature of such housing and its future” Multicultural Housing

Multicultural Housing Where they don’t line up: • Still not specifically “cultural” • “Guaranteed” only for this year • No agenda for direction of serious conversation • Doesn’t guarantee it for groups that didn’t have it last year Update: • There has been no conversation between student negotiators and administrators on this issue

Office of Multicultural Affairs Students: • (2) Long term implementation of mandatory anti-oppression training • (5) Use the current IRC building to house the OMA • Create that space by moving ICH residents to a currently available brownstone • (6) House the CC and SEAS Deans of Multicultural Affairs, who would • Administer the University’s policy on diversity • Advocate for student groups and students individually • (7) coordination and conflict mediation between students and between students and administration • (7) Inclusion of physical safe space within OMA which would provide a centralized venue for students as a community and as associations to organize

Office of Multicultural Affairs Bollinger: • Offer support and advising for student groups • Initiate and support cultural programming • Act as advocates for needs of minority populations • Facilitate peer mentoring programs among SOC • Provide diversity training to constituencies within CC/SEAS • Closely associated with Division of Student Affairs to avoid isolation

Office of Multicultural Affairs Where they don’t line up: • No Multicultural Deans, only the “firm support of the Deans of the College and SEAS” • No building change or mention for ICH, no conversation about it between us and administration • No clear path of resolution or protocol to follow for any bias-related incidents • Provide diversity training ≠ Mandatory anti-oppression training

Office of Multicultural Affairs Update: • Doesn’t have real power or authority of discipline • No place for student groups to meet or closed spaces for individuals to meet with OMA staff • Understaffed, too many other responsibilities, Office has no time to do what it was created for

Core, Faculty, and CSER Students: • (1) A class to be implemented into the Core that speaks to the issues of power, oppression, racialization, and the ideology of gender within US history and western philosophy • (1) Create a faculty blue ribbon panel that • Assesses the Core and makes recommendations as to how the goals of the above class can be implemented within Core instruction • Includes equal number of tenured supporters and critics of the Core

Core, Faculty, and CSER Students cont.: • (8) CSER and IRAAS reform • Faculty and administrator committee to investigate autonomy in hiring • Support CSER’s request for additional faculty lines • Support CSER’s desire for research arm • Follow up on University promise of funding for a CSER Resource Center

Core, Faculty, and CSER Bollinger: • “Do more to…examine” faculty composition and “structure of our curriculum” • Noted existence of “a committee of faculty…[that has been] examining these problems” whom he will meet with to strategize on: • Increasing the racial and gender diversity of faculty • Increasing the representation of issues of multiculturalism in our curriculum • Examining undergraduate curriculum & how it can serve multicultural student body more effectively

Core, Faculty, and CSER Where they don’t line up: • Doesn’t address specific class proposal • Doesn’t address forming a specific faculty committee to evaluate the Core on diversity basis (no blue ribbon panel) • Doesn’t address increasing funding and power for CSER (including follow up on 1996 agreements) Update: • Vice-Provost Howard deals specifically with faculty hiring and how to diversify the faculty; little has been done because she is new to the position, but she has no power outside of hiring

Items Completely Ignored • (3) Transparent Policy • The means of allowing students to follow the progress of proceedings • (6) University Vice-Provost of Multicultural Affairs • Oversees creation and implementation of policies for all students of all schools of the University • Currently, Provost Howard only has jurisdiction over faculty hiring, and it is not university wide

Items Completely Ignored • (9) Committee on Diversity, the means for: • Continuous assessment of undergraduate climate • Addressing any bias-related incidents/concerns • Policy making for handling bias-related incidents • Ensuring power behind policies: • Includes President and Provost • Includes students and faculty • Includes experts who can make recommendations • Ensures that these issues stay at the forefront of their attention

President Bollinger:“I hope to have a series of more specific proposals on these and other matters as we continue with the help of our students and faculty.”

Despite this statement, this semester there has been no effort on behalf of President Bollinger to meet with us again and address these issues Many of these issues may have been discussed among administrators or other parties, but most of them have not been discussed with students involved in the negotiations

Vice Provost of Diversity: Jean Howard Her responsibilities: • Asses the number of minorities within various departments • Examine various faculty recruitment programs and determine the best for Columbia • Convince university that her job is worthwhile and that it is not affirmative action • Needs to build allies before she can advocate for us…

Meetings with Vice Provost Howard Diversity Training for Faculty: • New faculty • New chairs of departments • Search committees for new faculty • Will look for ways to implement DT of current faculty • Wants to establish faculty committee that reviews the inappropriate behavior of faculty members (sexual, degrading remarks, etc.)

Meetings with Vice Provost Howard • She is in the position for 3 years, then someone new will be chosen BUT: • If she is too successful, her position may be considered obsolete and eliminated • If she is not successful enough, her position may be considered ineffective and eliminated • Has no control over the Core, and told not to deal with it or “student issues”

Meetings with Vice Provost Howard • Has no jurisdiction over OMA in any way • Does not want students on the hiring committees • The run-around: One student told by President Bollinger to take an incident to VP Howard, yet she has been told not to deal at all with student affairs • Changes in the Core MUST come from central administration

Meetings with Vice Provost Howard The short and sweet: She has no authority over anything but hiring, and she is only hired for a 3 year contract.

Meeting with Prof. Okihiro of CSER Priorities: • Securing more faculty positions for CSER and more people of color University wide (no Native American faculty in the who U.) • Securing tenure and hiring power for CSER, IRAAS, etc • Research facility: was promised as a condition of his moving to Columbia that Butler would house an Ethnic Studies Reading Room • No reading room in Butler • Trying to start one in CSER but needs the funding and resources

Meeting with Prof. Okihiro of CSER Things for us to be aware of: • People within CSER still not convinced on the necessity of Native American Studies • Faculty in IRAAS somewhat resistant to merging with CSER or creating closer ties • Outside administrators hostile to CSER/IRAAS • Structural impediments of hiring

Where do We Go From Here? Ideas for change: • Weekly Core meetings • Teachers meet weekly on upcoming topics; we need to work on including the diversity aspect • Talk to people responsible for various majors and talk about increasing diversity in specific majors • Work on getting non-students of color involved, especially through bridging the gaps to Hillel • Asking for an annual University lecture (similar to the CC Lecture) that address issues of diversity, etc • Re-evaluate and identify our priorities from proposal

The Fight Continues…