Students leaders across the country are tying to install special race-based institutions on campus. One of those efforts, at the University of Kansas, has been thwarted for the time being.
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The university’s African-America chancellor, Bernadette Gray-Little, has vetoed a funding proposal for a special “multicultural student government,” which had been approved by the official student government back in March.
The special body, which was created in response to campus protests calling for an increase in minority representation in student government (and the recommendation of a “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force”), was set to receive up to $90,000 in funding through a proposed increase in student fees, pending the chancellor’s approval. The money would go toward speakers, supplies, leadership stipends, and a “multicultural student orientation” program.
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Gray-Little vetoed the funding request for a simple reason: The university code does not allow for the creation of more than one student-led government. But she also argued, in a letter to the Student Senate earlier this week, that the multicultural student government “is not an optimal way to achieve the goals we have for diversity and inclusion at the university and, indeed, may lead to greater divisiveness.”
Supporters of the new government aren’t happy with the chancellor’s decision, and have launched a change.org petition to reinstate funding for the body (which does not exist yet and is not permitted under the university code).
“We deserve to be part of the decision-making, including but not limited to determining the allocation of resources,” the petition reads. “We deserve to challenge the current system and promote the voices and successes of marginalized students.”
Student governments at universities across the country have been struggling to meet protestor demands for increased minority representation on campus. At Cornell University, for example, student leaders created special minority liaison positions, and recently discussed whether to hold exclusive, race-based elections for those positions.
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