Members of the Campus Culture Task Fork Committee met for the first time last Tuesday, and the three subcommittees formed in the meeting will meet during the coming weeks.
Chancellor James Oblinger formed the committee to begin the preliminary discussions about what changes need to be made in order to make the culture on campus better, and the subcommittees will discuss recommendations for changes in the campus climate, Student Conduct practices and Free Expression Tunnel and Brickyard procedures.
The committee’s formation was one of the measures the University took following the Free Expression Tunnel graffiti Nov. 5 which made references to shooting President-elect Barack Obama.
Tom Stafford, vice chancellor for Student Affairs, said the first committee served as an organizational period where members could discuss plans for subcommittee meetings.
“I thought it went very well,” Stafford said of the first meeting. “It was an organizational meeting and that was our primary purpose. We wanted to review the different incidents that have happened and assign people to the subcommittees.”
Jose Picart, vice provost for Diversity and Inclusion, is chairing the Campus Climate subcommittee. Student Body President Jay Dawkins will chair the Free Expression Tunnel and Brickyard practices subcommittee and Stafford will chair the Student Conduct Practices subcommittee.
“I’m not at all sure how the code of conduct committee will come out,” Stafford said. “But I’m very excited about what could be some productive recommendations from the climate subcommittee. We want to promote free speech but with civility and respect for other people.”
Dawkins agreed that the first meeting went well.
“The first meeting went very well,” he said. “We heard what people hope to accomplish with the meetings. A big part of it was getting a historical context.”
Blair Kelley, a history professor, gave a presentation on the history of how racial slurs impact the African American community and produce a fearful mindset at the meeting.
“She definitely gave us some knowledge about the context of the Free Expression Tunnel incident,” Dawkins said. “The presentation helped frame the discussion.”
The Department of History is also sponsoring a teach-in on the Free Expression Tunnel incident for students Dec. 3, titled “The Gun, the Flag and the Noose.”
While Dawkins said the first meeting was a success, he said he was surprised to not see more students not on the committee in attendance.
“I invited a few students who had voiced interest in being on the committee,” Dawkins said. But with it being so close to the break, not a whole lot of people were around to show up.”
Stafford said the turnout from the twenty-five member committee itself was higher than he expected with the holiday break being only one day away.
“All seven students were there and there were only four people out of the whole list absent,” Stafford said. “That’s very encouraging. That’s extremely positive to have that many people there.”
Dawkins said the subcommittees will meet and discuss the more specific charges of the committee during the next few weeks before coming back together and eventually making recommendations to the chancellor.
Geoffrey Hunter, a senior in political science and vice-chair of the Student Diversity Council, said he is glad to see the task force underway.
“I thought it would be what happened last year,” Hunter said of the formation of the committee. “It was a good step.”
Hunter said he hopes to see rules set so students know what is and what isn’t allowed on campus.
“There definitely needs to be rules set and a policy for things like this,” he said. “N.C. State is really diverse, and you have to have a policy to account for that and account for anything that may happen while people are on campus.”
UNC system President Erskine Bowles announced his intention to form a state commission to determine if there needs to be a code defining hate speech throughout the entire UNC system.
Stafford said changes to policies regarding hate speech should not be limited only to N.C. State.
“It seems to me that if there is a need for change, then it ought to be throughout the system,” Stafford said. “If we need some sort of new code, it should apply not only to N.C. State but all of North Carolina.”
Hunter said it would have been beneficial if a policy had been in place before the Free Expression Tunnel incident had occurred.
“In a situation like this, it would have been good to have something in place to counter this,” he said. “It’s a good thing they are finally moving toward changes with the task force.”