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The Indiana Daily Student

Administrators respond to racial threats

College communities across the country have been working to become more cautious, since threats to the black community Nov. 11 and 12 at the University of Missouri.

On Nov. 13, just days after that incident, a racist threat on an anonymous social media site was reported at IU. In response, IU-Bloomington Provost Lauren Robel sent a message to all students and staff stating IU “completely rejects this cowardly and anonymous action.”

Since these events, the IU administration has been taking other steps to help prevent such incidences.

After hearing about these threats, Dean of Students Pete Goldsmith organized a forum with the Black Student Union and Robel to discuss campus culture with students and administration.

“For me, that’s kind of what we do ... we work with students and we try to understand what student issues are ... try to frame responses that will be useful,” Goldsmith said.

The Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs has been working with minority students to listen, support and encourage their thoughts and concerns.

“When any one of our IU community members is prevented from doing her or his best, the entire University is diminished,” said Martin McCrory, associate vice president for academic support and diversity and vice provost for educational inclusion and diversity. “Therefore, there is no room for racism or discrimination on this or any IU University 
campus.”

After hearing students’ thoughts and concerns, OVPDEMA Vice President James Wimbush, said staff at OVPDEMA took many steps to 
support these students.

These steps included aligning resources to support underrepresented minority students and diversity during recruitment and retention and providing resources and opportunities for dialogue that
enables IU to maintain a healthy climate in which all people feel safe and empowered.

OVPDEMA will also release independent diversity assessment results in the spring that will provide baseline measurements on diversity achievement and progress, to help further IU’s strategic efforts.

Everyone has a responsibility to behave in a manner that is respectful of the dignity of others, treating them with civility and understanding regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or age, McCrory said, quoting the code of Student Rights, Responsibilities & Conduct.

“This is our shared responsibility and we must remain ever vigilant,” he said. “We can never become complacent as we work together to assure these ends.”

Wimbush said the work behind creating a healthy campus climate is work that is never done. He is having conversations with students and other administrators, including Robel and Wimbush, to think about how they should respond and deal with issues that have been raised.

“I think what I want is for students to value their experience here, to feel valued, to feel respected, and so that anything that happens that causes students to feel demeaned or devalued is a great concern to me,” Goldsmith said.

Moving forward, Goldsmith said, there are a lot of conversations happening 
regarding these issues.

“My hope is that we make this an environment where students feel valued and 
respected,” Goldsmith added.

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