The 'Z's are painted black this year and the buzzword "diversity" is associated with everything from newly formed committees to recently constructed student centers. Still, some students and professors involved in diversity efforts question whether cosmetic alterations indicate real change in an environment they say fostered a hate crime one year ago.
Others insist the University has made great strides in combating racial prejudice and discrimination since the alleged racially-motivated attack on then-Student Council presidential candidate Daisy Lundy last Feb. 26, a year ago today.
The alleged incident outraged many at the University and catapulted issues of race and diversity into University dialogue.
Some professors threw out lesson plans the day of the reported attack and instead opened the floor for students to discuss the racial climate at the University. A rapidly assembled panel the same day packed the Newcomb Hall Ballroom with concerned administrators, professors and students. Vigils, teach-ins and rallies in the ensuing weeks consistently drew hundreds of participants.
"Something has to happen to the culture," African-American Affairs Dean M. Rick Turner said at the Feb. 26 community meeting, and many students and administrators seemed to agree.
The Minority Rights Coalition drew up a document demanding institutional change such as increased minority hiring and the establishment of an Office of Diversity and Equality and presented it to University administrators.
The administration stepped up diversity initiatives already in the works, according to Pat Lampkin, vice president for student affairs, and by April had established a president's commission and a Board of Visitor's special committee to address diversity and equity.
"It's unfortunate that an event like this has to happen, before we go into these very creative and proactive activities," Turner said in an interview this week. "Be that as it may, I think we've done a wonderful job in using the past events as teachable moments in a lot of different instances, inside the classroom and outside the classroom."
Student initiatives
Massive membership increases in groups dedicated to racial understanding indicate a heightened awareness of racial problems over the past year, student leaders say.
The number of students in Sustained Dialogue, an organization that coordinates small, diverse groups to talk about race relations, mushroomed from 75 to 240 participants in the term following Lundy's reported assault.
"It changed some peoples' perceptions, as to at least some sort of tangible problem exists," Sustained Dialogue Co-Founder Priya Parker said.
Student Council established the Mix last year, a program designed to bring together disparate student groups. Its diversity committee hosted forums and brought the diversity center project to fruition.
"I don't think the interest in making U.Va. a more tolerant place has waned any," Council Diversity Committee Chair Janay Jones said. "I think people think it's just as important a concern as when Daisy was attacked -- people still have in their minds that we can do a lot to make a difference here."
The Committee for Progress on Race, a group of Law students that sponsored many of the events immediately following the assault, capitalized on heightened awareness to push for creation of the Center for the Study of Race and Law.
"The sort of grassroots feeling was, look, we've got a ton of energy now, we need to make a ton of statements now -- but also, let's try to take this energy before it dissipates and come up with some proposals for long-term commitments," said Law Prof. Anne Coughlin, the acting director of the Center. "There needed to be a more visible statement of commitment and the Center is that sort of statement."
In the past year, the Center sponsored a short course in critical race theory and hosted a plethora of events, including a symposium last weekend featuring an attorney who argued the Brown v. Board of Education case.
"We want to make sure that we continue to be thinking energetically about legal solutions and also non-legal solutions," Coughlin said.
Institutional change
Attempts at institutional change during the past year encountered more difficulty than the oft-celebrated student programs. At the same time as many students called for top-down action, others worried about an outside authority forcing one ideology onto the student body.
When, over the summer, the Board gave preliminary approval to establish a mandatory diversity training program, a group of students formed the Individual Rights Coalition in the fall to protest the proposed course.
"We object in principle to the fact that there's a potential here that there's going to be some sort of ideology imposed on the student body," IRC spokesperson Andrew Connors said.
Connors added that student groups that advocate free discourse, like Sustained Dialogue, do an adequate and less- problematic job of addressing issues of race at the University.
"We understand the problem that there are some people you're not going to get to come to these things, but these are unreachable people regardless," Connors said.
Mandatory diversity training subsequently was sent back for further consideration, but administrators stepped up the pace of many other initiatives already in progress.
Lampkin said increased student awareness allowed for outside input into projects that formerly were largely ignored.
"It gave it some energy," Lampkin said. "We've had pretty good momentum all year -- you never want to let it go."
The president's commission established in April and a similar Board committee founded at the same time accelerated discussions on the hiring and retention of minority and female faculty and installing an office or officer of diversity, among other issues.
Faculty searches already are underway for minority and female candidates, said Commission Co-Chair Michael Smith, a professor at the University.
"It's important for people to see among their teachers and professors people who reflect a wide variety of backgrounds and cultures and experiences," Smith said. "This enriches the whole life of the University, it brings depth to our consideration of these issues and it reflects the institution's commitment to looking like the population it serves."
Smith said the commission intends to issue an oral report May 1 and produce a written statement by the end of the summer.
Eyeing the future
Despite apparent progress, the University has a long way to go in cultivating an environment where occurrences such as Lundy's alleged assault are a virtual impossibility, many University members said.
Minority Rights Coalition Chair M. Bruce argued that substantial change cannot occur over the course of a single year.
"It happens time and again when something awful happens -- clearly people are going to be reactive, but people need to be proactive," Bruce said. "A lot more needs to be done."
Parker and Jones both said they see the major problem as not institutional bias but student apathy.
"Students are more keyed in to a lot of these issues, but there's obviously still a lot of students who don't care or this doesn't affect them," Parker said.
Individual students' efforts are the most effective means of reaching that population, she added: "Only students can change student climate -- the only way they can do that is through building relationships with each other."
Coughlin said an effort to create courses specifically devoted to diversity, like the critical race theory short course the Center sponsored this year, should be the next step in promoting racial tolerance.
"That's going to give meaning to this nebulous cry for diversity that we hear, to give it some kind of substantive content," Coughlin said.
The president's commission is considering ways to spotlight diversity in the classroom, Smith said. It is pondering a "first-year experience" course and a faculty-student exchange program with historically black colleges. Smith added that hiring initiatives ultimately will contribute to a diverse course offering as well.
"How do we create a structure so that faculty are able to offer innovative courses that address diversity and equity in the broader world?" he asked, in describing how the commission approaches faculty hiring.
Anthropology Prof. Wende Marshall suggested the University has more fundamental issues to address before it even begins to tackle race relations in the classroom.
"I think it's more than diversity commissions -- there are some serious structural issues at the University," Marshall said. "If we can't do anything about that then we can't do anything about the real problem."
Still, the anger and frustration many students expressed following Lundy's attack often turned productive, University members said.
"Has the University changed by leaps and bounds in the calendar year?" Bruce asked. "Certainly not. Is the dialogue continuing? Yes."
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