Blacks, whites, Asians and Latinos. Jews, Christians and Muslims. Administrators, students, faculty and staff. Even a small handful of alumni and Evanston residents.
Monday night’s forum at Norris University Center was the first time in years that all parts of the Northwestern community converged to discuss issues of diversity.
Everyone in attendance expressed unity in denouncing the eight written acts of vandalism reported in the past two weeks. But no one agreed on a campuswide plan of action, and many said they were less than satisfied with student and administrative responses — leaving questions unanswered and the next steps uncertain.
Fewer than 200 of the 500 seats in the Louis Room were filled, but there was no shortage of ideas. From “diversity-track curriculum” to police and camera security in dorms, students pleaded with administrators — specifically University President Henry Bienen — for a policy that might help prevent another scrawling of a swastika or utterance of “nigger.”
Administrators, as of now, plan to respond through some changes that already are in the works. They include better preparing students to tackle issues of diversity during New Student Week, which Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Mary Desler called “unsatisfactory” during the forum.
Desler also is spearheading a review of the University Hearing and Appeals System, which is used to hear cases of students who violate acceptable conduct at NU. While the Office of Student Affairs has not disclosed how it might revamp UHAS, Desler said any changes would be made in time for Fall Quarter.
Officials said Student Affairs will meet again today to discuss ideas brought up at the forum, but Desler told The Daily on Tuesday: “It’s all of our responsibility to make this community one in which everybody matters. It’s not just President Bienen’s.”
Many students and cultural groups are starting smaller initiatives. Rabbi Dov Hillel Klein, director of the Tannenbaum Chabad House, said he would go dorm to dorm speaking with small groups of students.
Multicultural advocates are handing out “Not in My Home” posters, which students have begun placing on dorm-room doors. Richard Goldberg — a Jewish student and friend of two students whose whiteboard was marked with a swastika — is trying to gather students to begin patrolling Bobb and McCulloch halls.
“There is a practical, realistic limitation to what the university can do to protect students on a day-to-day basis,” said Goldberg, a Medill sophomore. “To fill in the holes where the administration can’t protect us, it’s upon the students to take care of themselves until ideas can be proposed.”
Desler said many students don’t understand that the university president doesn’t control disciplinary action of students.
“I was surprised at how little students seem to know about our policies, our procedures, about basic due process,” she said. “President Bienen does not discipline students — the community does. And I want to keep it that way.”
Students, galvanized by a prepared statement from black student group For Members Only, called on Bienen at the forum to lay out a clear punishment for anyone found guilty of committing the vandalism. Bienen and other administrators pledged to stick to a case-by-case treatment, angering a large number of students who called some officials inconsiderate of their compassion for the issue.
Many vocal students at the Tuesday forum backed down from their strong statements, saying they recognized the need for due process. But they maintained that the much-needed “reassurance” — the buzz word used for students’ faith in the NU community — did not come Monday night, at least not from Bienen.
“I was really disappointed at how some (administrators) were responding to students,” said Education senior Elizabeth Whittaker, who advocated a zero-tolerance policy at the forum. “I was shocked and surprised … when some of them were raising their voices.”
Terry Bailey captivated the crowd when she called Bienen’s unreceptive reactions to several students’ ideas “bullshit.”
“I thought people were going to get some kind of mental reassurance,” the Education senior said Tuesday. “The university could have created that peace of mind. … They didn’t take that opportunity.”
Both Bailey and Whittaker said they wanted an apology from Bienen.
The president could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but Desler said she recognized that some students’ college experiences have been tainted by the past weeks’ acts and that the university has to be proactive in its response.
“I love Northwestern, and I love the students that are here,” she said. “And I know there were students in that room who can’t say that. I’m working hard to change that.”
The Daily’s Elaine Helm contributed to this report.
