Staff editorial: Fading to Black

After a lukewarm reception for the newest university slogan, administrators were probably looking forward to the day when students would chant it with pride. But the day came sooner than they could have known, and certainly not in the context they expected.

“Unstoppable starts here! Injustice ends here!” they shouted from the steps of the Administration Building. More than 600 students crowded the steps of the university’s iconic headquarters, in doing so creating an iconic image of their own.

The direct cause of the protest was the ousting of long-time professor Cordell Black from his position as associate provost for equity and diversity. But what brought students to the university’s door was much deeper than one man or one job. Students issued a list of three demands: Black’s reinstatement, release of budget and diversity records, and a halt to all personnel and department shuffles and layoffs until students and faculty can provide more input.

The administration may not want to give in to these demands, but refusing to do so could exacerbate what appears to be a growing credibility problem. According to the small group of student leaders who met with Farvardin during the rally, the provost reversed himself. One day after saying Black’s dismissal was about budget cuts, he admitted it was a personnel decision and argued he has the right to hire his own staff.

It is entirely within Farvardin’s rights as an administrator to choose his own subordinates. But at a university that claims to care about shared governance and claims to care about student voices, he should listen to the 600 of them outside his office.

“Diversity is a full-time job. Support us!”

“My check for admission was cleared — why did my check for diversity bounce?”

“How can you pride yourself on diversity when you’re so eager to take it away?”

“Admit more people of color — I’m tired of being the only one.”

“No justice, no peace.”

The issue is not about Farvardin’s ability to make autonomous personnel decisions. The issue is this university is experiencing a diversity and credibility crisis, and students and faculty members — not just minority ones — are at the breaking point.

One might say the most prevalent chant of the afternoon, “Bring Black back,” has a double meaning for most of the student protesters. Many have long felt a constant tension about diversity issues at the university, and this semester it has bubbled over, as black freshman enrollment has dropped 28 percent from last year and the administration is considering consolidating diversity majors and minors into one department.

Coincidentally, the administration chose this semester to introduce the preliminary drafts of a long-term diversity plan. Last week, administrators held a town hall to solicit feedback about the plan and the state of diversity at the university.

This is one of the reasons why students have responded so sharply to the decision to remove Black from his office: It seems deceitful to ask for feedback on the university’s future plans while making personnel decisions that will influence the present without any student input.

On the surface, pushing out Black doesn’t seem as though it will produce a significantly negative effect. Officially, the Office of Equity and Diversity will keep an associate provost role with 20 less hours. The decision won’t reduce the services offered by the overall office or any of its branches — the Nyumburu Cultural Center, the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equity and the Office of Multi-ethnic Student Education.

And yet despite appearances, Black’s ousting had a dramatic ripple effect. Rumors were flying that the university would be taking funds from OMSE or LGBT offices, or even closing the Nyumburu Center. Signs at the rally displayed fears that reducing the role of the associate provost would mean future cuts to all things dealing with minority students, or even admitting fewer students of color to the university.

The biggest issue isn’t whether the university will retain Black, but how Black’s dismissal has led many to believe the administration has betrayed their trust and their values. The fact that so many were compelled to speak out demonstrates a deep-seeded belief that one backward step in diversity, a valued aspect that enriches every student’s education, could become a downward tumble.

In the midst of dramatic budget cuts, as priorities shift from enriching the university to streamlining it, students and faculty members need to have confidence that their leaders are listening and acting in their interests. The university community wants diversity to remain a priority, and if the administration wants proof, it just needs to open a window and listen to the voices of the students shouting to be heard.