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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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MONDAY, NOV. 23, 2015 | VOLUME 130 ISSUE 26
NEWS ROUNDUP »
YOU NEED TO KNOW
JAMES HOYT/KANSAN
R.I.P. McCOLLUM.
Ahead of its demolition this weekend, students and alumni shared stories of what it was like to live in the residence hall.
News » PAGE 02
"GAMING WILDLIFE." The YouTube channel started by KU graduates has over 100,000 subscribers and satirizes gaming culture. Arts & Culture >> 5
JAMES HOYT/KANSAN
ATHLETICS SUSTAINABILITY.
Despite unsustainable funding in collegiate athletic departments, Kansas Athletics appears to withstand. Sports >> PAGE 8
KANSAN.COM >>
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
BILL CLINTON COMES TO KU.
He'll speak at the Lied Center at 1 p.m. on Monday.
Check out Kansan.com and follow @ KansanNews on Twitter for updates.
>> Kansan.com/news
A breakdown of Rock Chalk Invisible Hawk's 15 demands for the University
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Members of Rock Chalk Invisible Hawk and supporters stand at the Nov.18 Student Senate meeting
SENATE'S PLAN. Student Senate released a more detailed plan to address diversity on campus.
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In a statement sent on Nov. 18 Rock Chalk Invisible Hawk gave detailed reasons for each of their 15 demands. The demands require action from University administration, the Office of Diversity and Equity, the Office of Institutional Opportunity and Access, University and Student Senate, the Lawrence Police Department and a variety of University departments.
"Administrators and staff are working on identifying who will be on the advisory group and developing an extensive charge for the group to address," Jill Hummels, communications manager for the Office of the Provost, said in an email. "It's still a work in progress. It is a top concern."
Here's a breakdown of the 15 demands:
1. Director of Office of Multicultural Affairs hired by December.
Since former OMA Director Blane Harding resigned in May, there hasn't been a permanent director for the Office of Multicultural Affairs, an issue the Nov. 18 statement says is "imperative" the University resolves.
"They need to be able to connect well with students, understand the current campus climate, have a plan of action to address issues, and have intentional dialogue with administration to create systemic change," the statement said.
Harding served in the position for three years. Since then, Precious Porras has been serving as interim director.
Katherine Rainey, a member of Rock Chalk Invisible Hawk, said in an interview that Rock Chalk Invisible Hawk is looking for the Office of Diversity and Equity to "actually make a sound decision and choose someone."
"We've gone long enough without a director, and I think moving into the spring semester it's important that someone's in that office and ready to go and advocate for students," Rainey said.
Rainey said the Office of Diversity and Equity is in the application process and are in the final rounds of the hiring process.
2. Mandatory, intense "inclusion and belonging" training for all levels of students, staff, faculty and administration.
"An important part of creating systemic change is educating those around you and equipping them with the training to work with, respect and support people from all demographics;" the statement said.
Rainey said that ideally the training would take the form of required classes rather than an online module.
Rainey said online trainings are a good start, but students don't respond to those as well and "just click through it without learning." Rainey said the classes could be in African and African American Studies or Women. Gender and Sexuality Studies; or a class about indigenous studies.
different levels of intensity for students, faculty and staff, and administration.
Part of the demand would include a tiered system of cultural competency training with
On the "most basic level of training" students would be required to take cultural competency classes as part of graduation requirements. The class would be for credit rather than a course online like Alcohol EDU The highest level of training would also include training for resident assistants because they have so much interaction with students, Rainey said.
The University is currently working on developing a social justice minor.
"Ideally those classes would be underneath the social justice minor," Rainey said.
"The goal is to learn more about how KU's environment supports or hinders a variety of populations, such as underrepresented student groups and faculty navigating the tenure-track process," Jeffrey Vitter, provost and executive vice chancellor, said in a statement in spring. "We want to understand the disruptions we face in completing our jobs and the challenges that make us lose focus on our studies."
3. Issue a campus climate survey by February 2016.
Earlier this semester, the Office of Diversity and Equity, led by Nate Thomas, announced that it was working on formulating a campus climate survey to "make sure that no one feels excluded or unsafe on campus due to their race, religion or sexual orientation;" Thomas previously told the Kansan.
"We feel like Dr. Nate Thomas
has been in his position for far too long for them to not have made enough progress to have the climate survey out by this spring." Rainey said.
Rainey said she believes using a similar survey created by Sue Rankin, a senior research associate in the Center for the Study of Higher Education at Pennsylvania State University, would be a way to expedite the process.
"We also know that the person that they are using to create the climate survey, Mrs. Sue Rankin, already has surveys she has used and we believe are very effective and almost identical to what we would want here at KU, and so essentially we don't feel like it's necessary to reinvent the wheel," Rainey said. "We would much rather have a survey put out in February that just needs minor details or adjustments to fit our campus instead of waiting for there to be an entire new survey created."
Rankin has worked with more than 70 institutions and organizations in "implementing assessments and developing strategic plans regarding social justice issues" according to Rankin and Associates Consulting.
4. Train and rehire Office of Institutional Opportunity and Access staff and implement accountability measures.
According to the statement, "there have been many grievances made about the ineffectiveness and bias" of the office. The office is in charge of investigating cases of discrimination.
Rock Chalk Invisible Hawk is
calling for a review of the office's training, hiring and case review processes. The Office of Diversity and Equity, along with Thomas, would oversee a review of IOA to make sure it is doing its job and being transparent, Rainey said.
"I don't think they have a grasp of any of them, which is why we have consequences for students and where their only punishment is an essay," Rainey said.
Rainey said she would also like to see the empty positions at IOA filled with diverse voices.
5. Increase consistent hiring of diverse faculty and staff.
According to the statement, Rock Chalk Invisible Hawk said they believe "increasing a consistent hiring pattern of diversity in all workings of higher education will create a more inclusive campus culture."
Rainey said the administration should look critically at its hiring process.
"It's not necessarily a quota so much as just looking at the system that we already have in place, and the fact of the matter is that our system highlights and amplifies the voices of white professors," Rainey said. "The reality is that we do not hire diverse faculty and we do not place them on a strong tenure track so that they have job security and so that they can really voice their concerns with administration and University problems."
Rainey also said Rock Chalk Invisible Hawk has been contacted by a few departments about ways
SEE DEMANDS PAGE 3
Bill Self criticizes the NCAA and Cheick Diallo's eligibility saga ahead of the Maui Invitational
Bare-chested students with "#FREEDIALLO" painted on their chests stand in the front row at a basketball game.
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On Saturday, during a media session in Maui, Hawaii, Kansas coach Bill Self criticized the way the NCAA has handled the review of Cheick Diallo's eligibility.
Self continued to use the words "frustrated" and "disappointed" in regards to his feelings with the process. However, this time, he offered a development that apparently came from Kansas' side.
"When the NCAA notified us September 1, that [Diallo] didn't have enough core (class) work, we asked the NCAA in writing (what was wrong) and they responded that they would let us know what the problems were," Self said to reporters. "And we did not actually find that out until — officially — the first week in November."
He added: "So since the first week in November — after they finally told us what the problems were — we have done our own work and have hired not only a second opinion but a third opinion."
Self said the University hired two independent firms to vet Diallo's classes in response to
the NCAA telling them what the potential problems with Diallo's eligibility were. Self said that after finally finding out about the specific issues, the University gave the NCAA a list of 19 "discrepancies" and "missteps" that were found with list of problems, adding that a delayed response led to Kansas hiring the two firms.
"Needless to say, were very upset," Self said. "They said they would respond to us in writing, and they have yet to do that. So, we decided to go ahead and take matters into our own hands and have found out that everything they have told us on why she wasn't eligible ... [wasn't] 100 percent accurate."
Self said the process took one week. He said one firm found 15 of Diallo's 16 core classes at Our Savior New American should "definitely" be counted, while the other found that all 16 should be counted. He did not name the groups specifically, but said they "specialize in core design, how to understand curriculum and [classifying] prep work."
Self also spoke about some of the individual items on the list of potential problems from the NCAA, which included "class attendance" and "curriculum
changes." Self said neither of those were actually issues and said the potential problems the NCAA found with those two areas in particular "weren't true."
However, it seems as though the one of the biggest issues to Self is the time frame. Self mentioned that the University has requested an "immediate answer," which it has not received.
"If we were going to do [the NCAA's] job for them and research all this stuff, then all we would've had to known was — back in early September — what the problems were, and we could've done this (independent review)," Self said. "They've said that there's nothing fraudulent, and there's nothing going on that he has done wrong. It's just
the fact that they didn't believe the classes were of quality credit or quality enough, and — by experts with PHDs — we have been told now that is not true."
He added: "It took us one week to basically get good information that they had months to get."
Finally, the most recent development came Saturday night, when Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star tweeted that Sheahon Zenger, Kansas' athletics director, sent a letter to the NCAA saying Diallo should be eligible immediately.
According to the Kansas City Star, Zenger said the University has spent close to "six-figures" on the Diallo case, adding that he supports that use of that much money because the University
Right now, Diallo is with the team in Maui, Hawaii, as Kansas prepares for the Maui Jim Maui Invitational. He has still not been cleared to play, and the Jayhawks will actually be a little more short-staffed than normal, as small forward Brannen Greene has been suspended for six games due to an alleged disagreement with Self over playing time, per the Kansas City Star.
has "uncovered serious and legitimate misrepresentation attributed to the NCAA process, unfounded verbal statements and inadequate professional standards"
Kansas' first game of the tournament will take place on Monday, Nov. 23, against Chaminade.
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