The debate continues on Grounds over the breadth and urgency of University efforts to pursue and promote greater diversity in the wake of multiple racially-charged incidents over the past year.
Two weeks after the attack on Student Council President-elect Daisy Lundy and five months after two fraternity party blackface incidents, University officials contend the school is making progress toward a more racially-sensitive campus.
While appreciative of immediate administrative efforts following the assault on Lundy, student groups continue to express concern that University officials lack a commitment to longer-term solutions.
Black Student Alliance President Tyler Scriven said the most paramount question to minority students is whether the University makes real, institutional changes in the coming months.
Despite several University-sponsored programs in the days immediately following the recent assault, Scriven said student groups have "yet to have a firm commitment" from the administration to help pursue their goals.
"At this point, I don't know if the administration has committed the money and resources needed" to address minority concerns, Coalition Chair Ryan McCarthy said. "Students will only be satisfied when tangible steps are taken."
Concerned students drew up a document, which broadly outlined ways to make the University more welcoming to minorities following the attack. The document, titled FORCE, calls for increased funding for minority initiatives, the creation of an Office of Diversity and Equality, more hiring of minorities and a greater retention rate of those faculty members.
The document also requests expanded minority studies programs, something administrators say only can come about after curriculum reviews by individual deans.
In early February, The Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs released a 13-point "Update on Diversity Efforts" plan detailing University efforts to create a more understanding and diverse community, just weeks before the attack. The document, consolidated and finalized over winter break, was an outgrowth of meetings of student groups with University President John T. Casteen III and Patricia Lampkin, vice president for student affairs.
The fall blackface incidents led not to a new but "heightened commitment to diversity," Lampkin said, adding that the VPSA is "not planning on stopping when things calm down."
Since the fall, progress has been made in meeting student concerns, she said. A new diversity Web page has been incorporated into the University home page and the long sought after multicultural center should be completed in Newcomb Hall by next fall.
The attack on Lundy received response not only on central Grounds but also in the University's graduate schools. The morning following the attack, over 100 Law students came together to express their anger over the incident, said Sam Le, a Law student and public relations coordinator for the Committee for Progress on Race. CPR is a newly-created group of concerned Law students and faculty members.
Though the attack occurred on central Grounds, Le said the incident "will color the way minority applicants to the School of Law perceive Charlottesville and our community in general."
Le added that CPR would work to reach out to accepted minority students and establish a center at the school to study more fully the relationship between race and law.
CPR and other concerned students will participate in a candlelight vigil, "March Against Racial Hatred," tonight.
Despite student concerns over the administration's commitment to meeting their needs, officials say the University is taking the needed steps to make the school welcoming to all students.
"The University acted very quickly and appropriately," University Spokesperson Carol Wood said. "The next test is what is going to happen next. I think you will find a commitment from this administration for the long haul."
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