Brehm to give diversity update

Bloomington Chancellor Sharon Brehm will give the campus' first "State of Diversity" address today in what will be an annual report on race relations in Bloomington.\nThe report comes almost a year after Brehm's decision to keep on display the Thomas Hart Benton mural panel called "Parks, the Circus, the Klan, the Press," which depicts Klu Klux Klan members burning a cross in the background.\nThe speech will be given in Woodburn Hall 100, the same room that houses the controversial painting, at 4 p.m.\nBrehm said IU-Purdue University at Indianapolis has a state of diversity address and decided when the controversy arose regarding the mural that a similar speech would benefit IU-Bloomington. \n"When I gave my speech on my decision to keep the mural where it is I promised to have a 'State of Diversity' address," Brehm said, "so this will update people on what has been done so far regarding the mural."\nBrehm said she originally planned to have the meeting in the fall, but needed more time to collect data and pushed it back into the spring. Brehm said it is actually better to have it in the spring since it is closer to the anniversary of the decision. She said debates on affirmative action have made the event become more timely for the campus.\nBrehm's speech will use statistics, graphs, charts and videos to report on the work already being done in the field of diversity and issues to improve in the future.\nPresident of the Black Student Union junior Gerald Mitchell said his student organization has still not accepted the presence of the mural in a classroom and feels it is offensive and distracting for some students.\nMitchell said he appreciates Brehm's effort but said more needs to be done to improve diversity on campus.\n"The 'State of Diversity' address is just a speech," he said. "Actions speak louder than words. It will not solve the problems of diversity on campus, but I don't think it intends to. Just like the 'State of the Union' address, it doesn't fix the nation's problems but communicates them to the American public."\nIn her speech, Brehm will also discuss the success of videos shown during freshman orientation and for the first day of some classes in Woodburn 100 to educate students about the video.\n"I actually sat in on some of the discussions following the showing of the video, and I was pleased with students engaging in conversations about the mural," Brehm said.\nSenior Amanda Tenbarge, who has a class in Woodburn 100, said she felt the video was very helpful and now understands the significance of the mural.\n"It's just a part of Indiana's history," she said. "The video they showed really was helpful to talk all about it and why it's there"