A series of regular meetings with U-M students since last fall has led to a number of significant steps forward related to issues of diversity and improving the climate on the Ann Arbor campus.

Student leaders of the Black Student Union and senior U-M administrators made the joint announcement today about actions that have been taken this term, and detailed more concrete steps that will be taken in the months ahead.

Last fall the Black Student Union spearheaded a nationally recognized social media campaign raising both awareness and a sense of urgency about the racial climate on campus and the experiences of being black at the University of Michigan (#BBUM).

Since January students and senior U-M administrators have met weekly to work on a range of long-term issues and short-term challenges.

“The #BBUM social media campaign served the purpose of amplifying the voices of the marginalized 4.8 percent black students and giving us a platform to voice our unique and everyday experiences on this campus,” BSU Speaker Tyrell Collier said.

Among the topics addressed during the meetings were:

• Increasing the enrollment of underrepresented minorities on the U-M campus.

• Making students more aware of how to access emergency funds.

• Improving the existing Trotter Multicultural Center and planning for a center closer to the heart of campus.

• Better off-campus transportation to areas of affordable housing for students.

“I think this movement, in all of its facets, served as a huge reality check for both university officials and the University of Michigan community at large,” Collier added. “However, it opened the door for us to have a constructive dialogue on the challenging issues facing U-M’s campus and get to work on finding ways to alleviate these problems. Working hand-in-hand with university officials proved to be the best method for tackling tough issues facing the student body.”

The weekly meetings included Provost Martha E. Pollack, Vice President for Student Life E. Royster Harper, Special Counsel to the President Liz Barry, Dean of Students Laura Blake Jones and five to 17 BSU members including Collier, Secretary Geralyn Gaines, Treasurer Robert Greenfield IV and Shayla Scales.  

 “We’ve worked hard together on these topics,” Pollack said. “The students raised issues that absolutely needed to be dealt with and provided valuable insight on ways to effect change. We are grateful to each student for his or her willingness to engage in this important dialogue. Through their personal commitment to the work, the administration has deepened its understanding of the students’ experiences.”

“The meetings with administration have been quite productive, but proved that the completion of the demands will take longer than we originally thought,” Gaines said.  “Creating short- and long-term goals for each demand are good first steps. However, it is up to us, the students, to continue to work together in order to implement the changes we want to see. 

“We realize that these meetings with administration were only small wins. They were only the beginning. There is still a lot of work to be done on both ends. I do hope that the demands of the black Wolverines continue to be high on the priority list for the university in order to reach the long-term goals we created together as students and members of the administration.”

“I’m looking forward to building on the great progress we’ve made this year and staying in dialog with the students,” Harper said. “We have identified a number of next steps and will, for example, continue our work on Trotter, the race and ethnicity class requirements, and recruiting of underrepresented minority students.” 

The topics discussed during the meetings were:

• Increased enrollment of underrepresented minority students:  Students and administrators are in agreement about the desire to increase the enrollment of underrepresented minority students. The group explored current admissions challenges, including legal requirements, and recruitment efforts. The BSU leaders provided valuable insight into how to recruit qualified underrepresented minority students to U-M.

Result: BSU students are assisting with winter term events and initiatives designed to increase yield of admitted underrepresented minority applicants consistent with constitutional requirements. This assistance will include development of a process for current students to annually assist with encouraging underrepresented minority students who have been accepted to enroll.  In addition, university leadership is considering various strategies suggested by BSU for future implementation, as permitted by law.

• Affordable housing and transportation: Students helped administrators better understand the need for after-hours, off-campus transportation to locations outside the city of Ann Arbor, where more affordable housing can often be found. Public buses to nearby areas, for example, often stop running in the early evening hours.

Result: A pilot program this spring is providing transportation for students living in neighboring communities. The university has created a process for students who rely on public transportation to access limited funding to cover certain transportation costs if they live at a distance from campus and public transportation has stopped running. Students can apply for the funding through the Dean of Students office.

• Trotter Multicultural Center on Central Campus: Students underscored the importance of increasing the functionality of the current Trotter Multicultural Center and in the long term, the need for a more central location.

Result: Safety and security enhancements to the existing Trotter facility already are underway. Renovations are being planned and will be complete this summer. In addition to previously allocated funding for infrastructure upgrades, the Provost’s Office provided an additional $300,000 to make the building both safer and more comfortable for students.

In addition, the university has committed to creating a multicultural center on Central Campus.  A group has been formed to explore the programming that would help to determine design and location requirements for a Trotter Multicultural Center on Central Campus.

Other next steps include identifying existing Central Campus spaces to serve as auxiliary meeting locations until the new center is created.

• Race and ethnicity requirement: Students shared their impression that many of the current R&E classes, while addressing important topics, were not helping students develop the competencies for living and working in a multicultural community. Students and administrators affirmed the importance of the R&E requirement and the need for all students to continually increase their levels of understanding when discussing issues of race and ethnicity.

Result: A social identity bystander intervention program, Change It Up, will be provided to all residence hall residents starting in fall 2014. In addition, BSU students are meeting with associate deans from each school and college with undergraduates to discuss desired changes and additions to existing R&E requirements.

• Emergency funding for students:  The students helped U-M administrators understand the need for a more vigorous effort to publicize, among all students, the availability of emergency financial assistance for students.

Result: A survey determined that funds for emergency issues for all students have not been exhausted for the academic year. The provost will continue to monitor and ensure that emergency funds are made available. A central website with general information and contact information for emergency funding and programs in each undergraduate school and college was created. The site was linked to websites such as Central Student Government, Student Life, Black Student Union and other key offices.

• Accessibility of Bentley documents on the Black Action Movement: Students explained that key documents relating to student protests that began in the 1960s were missing or were difficult to access by students and researchers. Students emphasized that the collection is critical to helping the campus community understand its own history regarding race, student activism and campus climate.

Result: An initial group of documents reflecting the historical significance of the Black Action Movement has been digitized. A long-term plan for digitizing remaining documents is being developed by the Bentley.

• Black Student Union funding: BSU receives annual funding for its activities. The amount of that funding has not increased significantly in many years.

Result: A proposal was developed on increased funding for the BSU based on how other groups have been funded over the years, but it is not final pending legal and budgetary review, which is expected to be complete in June. The BSU has amended its constitution regarding how it will use its funds to support a variety of other student groups.

Tags:

• #BBUM
• Black Student Union
• diversity