Chancellor Dan Jones, after requesting outside consultation to assess the university’s racial climate, released a detailed report Friday that addresses future implementations regarding diversity and inclusiveness.
The plan came after a series of reports conducted by two consultant groups made up of Ed Ayers and Christy Coleman of Richmond, Virginia and Greg Vincent of Austin, Texas. Ayers and Coleman are both experts from the history department at The University of Richmond. Jones said the two partnered in addressing controversial symbols on the UM campus.
Vincent, vice president for diversity and community engagement at The University of Texas – Austin, focused primarily on issues of organizational structure within the administration. The six-part plan includes creating a new vice chancellor-level position for diversity and inclusion.
“We’re simply consolidating a lot of what’s done on campus, and then creating new responsibilities at a vice chancellor level in the university,” Jones explained. “Just to consolidate what we do, and give a stronger focus on diversity and inclusion.”
In the upcoming fall semester Provost Morris Stocks will create a specific title, portfolio, set of responsibilities and budgets for the new vice-chancellor position. Stocks will also be in charge of leading the national search to fill the position.
“Any time you commit new resources to an issue, you certainly expect and hope it will have an impact,” Jones said. “This is a position that many universities have. Some don’t have it as high a level in the organizational chart, some do. We’re just simply trying to send a strong message about importance and also be sure that we are committing appropriate resources to the issues of diversity and inclusion in the university.”
The action plan also includes dealing squarely with issues of race as well as other diversity issues and implementing a commitment beyond the University Creed to fairness and inclusion. The fifth suggestion in the report calls for an offering of more history on campus. Jones plans to accomplish this through the installation of plaques at specific racially-related sites to provide contemporary context to their symbolism. Jones said balancing this history with new symbols is also essential.
“An example of balancing history here is the Meredith statue,” Jones said. “We have lots of symbols related to the Confederacy and so forth on campus. Certainly the Meredith statue is a strong example of trying to balance that. People can expect to see more.”
The final suggestion revolved around the appropriate interchangeable use of the terms “The University of Mississippi” and “Ole Miss.”
“There have been lots of conversations about this,” Jones said. There are some faculty who are uncomfortable with the term ‘Ole Miss,’ some simply because it’s a nickname and some because it has an origin in what some view as racist origin.”
The chancellor explained the provost and the new chief diversity officer would be working with UM Communications to be sure that guidance is offered on the appropriate use of the terms “Ole Miss” and “The University of Mississippi.” He said broadly the term “Ole Miss” is used to refer to athletics and the broad spirit of the university, as it is embedded in the school’s alma mater, but when talking about the academic department, “The University of Mississippi” is most appropriate.
“ ‘Ole Miss’ is a term that is embraced by the vast majority of our current students, our alumni, our faculty and staff,” Jones said. “We’ll continue to use the endearing term ‘Ole Miss’ associated with the university going forward.”
‘… the other side’
Sophomore Emma Jennings was among students who were not in favor of Jones’ proposed action plan. In response, she made the decision to write an open letter to the chancellor explaining her questions and concerns as an out-of state student and a member of the university’s Greek community.
After persuasion from a friend, she posted the lengthy letter to Twitter. Minutes later, it became viral and now has more than 100 retweets.
“You opened your report by addressing ‘All Who Love the University of Mississippi,’ implying that in order to truly love my school, I should agree with everything that followed in the report,” Jennings wrote in the closing paragraph of her letter. “Chancellor Jones, I love my school (arguably) more than anyone on this campus, and your report could use some more research, investigation and a broader base of opinion quotes to truly be on the right track to a diverse university.”
She signed the letter as, “One who loves Ole Miss.” In a telephone interview, Jennings told The Daily Mississippian she has received much support and positive feedback from students, specifically within the Greek community; however, critics of her letter were not shy in showing their opinions.
“Some people have said things like, ‘Oh, you’re a racist’ or, ‘This is an ignorant thing to say,’ but in my letter I think I made it pretty clear that I completely agree that racism is a problem that needs to be addressed both on campus and in the South in general,” Jennings said. “I’m from Alabama, and I can see it here too. I just think that the way that it was handled via that mass email and the report and the comments at the end of the report were just not the way that it should have been handled.
“It just seemed a little bit one-sided,” she said. “That’s what I was kind of trying to do. Present the other side.”
‘… racism exists’
Senior Briana O’Neil is the incoming president of The University of Mississippi’s Black Student Union, an organization intended to represent the voice of African-American students on campus. Upon receiving the email from Jones that circulated on Friday, she said she immediately felt a sense of gratification and excitement for the university she calls home.
“I’m really proud to be a member of an institution where the leadership hears the problems,” O’Neil said. “Instead of trying to hide the problems, they admit there are issues and address them head on.”
When asked if her organization received frequent complaints about the racial and diversity climate at the university, she replied just from being an African-American student on campus, she had experienced negative race-related issues.
“I’m talking about things that most people wouldn’t even realize, just because some people don’t decide to talk about it,” O’Neil said. “We never hear about these issues until they escalate.”
O’Neil said she thinks as long as people are talking about the issues of racism, diversity and inclusion, then sooner or later, a solution will be found.
“Well, think about it. Everybody says that the reason we take history is so that we can learn from the past, so history doesn’t repeat itself,” O’Neil explained. “Well, let’s face it racism exists. It has always existed, and it will continue exist until we try to figure out where these problems come from and how to work together as a community, as a university, as a nation to try to make it better.”
The chancellor agrees.
“We’ll continue, as a university, to not be shy about taking these issues on,” Jones said. “Certainly, some would like for us to talk less about some of the controversial issues, but I do think our university has a particular opportunity and responsibility to provide leadership in this area. We’ll continue to deal with it just as the rest of the country does.”
-Lacey Russell
dmeditor@gmail.com
