Southeast Task Force on Diversity is preparing recommendations

The President's Task Force on Diversity Education at Southeast Missouri State University has met six times since forming in March and is preparing preliminary recommendations that will be presented to the board of regents in June.

Debbie Below, vice president for enrollment management and student success and dean of students, and Morris Jenkins, dean of the College of Health and Human Services, are co-chairs of the task force and help facilitate discussion about how to enhance diversity and inclusion on campus.

The 34-member group consists of faculty, staff and students from all the colleges at Southeast, Below said.

The group was formed in light of peaceful protests on campus in November, after the announcement of a grand-jury decision not to indict Ferguson, Missouri, police officer Darren Wilson, who shot and killed unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in August.

Its first meeting was in March, and the task force will continue meeting through December.

"This has given us an opportunity to consider a wide variety of topics," Below said. "Our first focus was on discussing the underlying issues that led to the public protests that occurred in Ferguson but also have occurred and are continuing to occur throughout the country."

The task force has dedicated a portion of each meeting to educating itself on the historical context of race relations in the United States, Below said.

"That has helped all the committee members gain a better understanding of where we've been and where we might need to focus some of our efforts going forward," she said.

Among the task force's goals next semester, Below said, is to remember one of the things that led to the protests was community policing issues.

"And so one of our goals moving forward is next semester we will reach out to the Cape Girardeau community and have those kinds of conversations," she said.

While giving an update about the task force at a board of regents meeting earlier this month, Jenkins said involving the community is of utmost importance.

"We need to get involved in the community as a university," he said. "And we believe by doing this, there will be an improvement in relationships revolving around race, ethnicity and other diversity issues."

He also commended the students for being an "honest driving force."

At the group's first meeting, members were encouraged to be candid and respectful in their dialogue, Below said.

"This is a very diverse task force," she said. "I think that's important, because everyone brings a different perspective to the conversation. ... Each of us sees the world through our own lens and perspective. So, when you dedicate time to hearing about that day-to-day perspective of what it's like in your own environment, those have just been very meaningful conversations. We've learned a great deal."

At the June 19 meeting, the task force will present a small list of recommendations, Below said, and many of those are connected to the university's strategic plan that was approved in December.

"There are a variety of references to diversity and inclusion that are part of that strategic plan," she said. "So we saw opportunities to think about what the university aspires to be and provide recommendations that help us meet our objective."

After December, final recommendations will be shared with Carlos Vargas-Aburto, who will assume the presidency of the university July 1.

"And he'll receive a preliminary report that we develop from our work this spring," Below said. "We're using this internally right now within retreats on campus to discuss how you have conversations about a large variety of diversity topics. And we'll see what those final recommendations are when we move forward."

klamb@semissourian.com

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