Members of the faculty who also represent the National Coalition Building Institute met with members of administration and student leaders in Tuesday night’s Town Hall Forum.
The NCBI members used the forum to speak with those present about ways to increase dialogue about controversial issues, including the racial slurs which were painted in the Free Expression Tunnel the morning of Nov. 5.
Neil Ballentine, a junior in biological sciences and originator of the Town Hall Forum series, said the meeting was successful despite the lack of student representation.
“We had a small group but we covered what we needed to cover,” he said. “I’m very pleased with what happened tonight.”
One focus of the forum, Ballentine said, was to continue learning about how to provide students opportunities to address the Free Expression Tunnel events.
“My main goal was not to move past what happened but to figure out a way to let students know where there are ways to try and get N.C. State in the limelight for the positive things this campus has done,” he said. “The goal is to talk about the events and then change the policies.”
Ballentine said the role of the NCBI members, which included faculty and administrative representatives from the Office of Equal Opportunity, was key to help the student leaders learn effective techniques for addressing difficult topics.
“Having [NCBI] at the meeting was huge for us because we were able to get trained,” he said. “They taught us a lot about how to deal with these touchy subject.”
Ballentine also said he hopes students will continue to speak about their reaction and feelings surrounding the Nov. 5 events.
“The biggest thing is education,” he said. “It’s important for students to open up and seek out opportunities to learn more. As long as we’re talking about it, that means we’re doing something. Education and continuing to have open dialogues is key.”
Chancellor creates Task Force
Also on Tuesday, Chancellor Oblinger sent out a request to various student leaders, faculty and administration to join a task force created to discuss and recommend improvements to different cultural issues on campus.
According to the request, the task force would look at the campus climate, the Student Conduct Code and Free Expression Tunnel/Brickyard practices to assess potential changes.
Student Body President Jay Dawkins, Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusion Jose` Picart and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Tom Stafford will serve as co-chairs on the committee.
Dawkins said the task force will be crucial to advancing diversity discussions in the near future.
“It’s a great opportunity to bring together a lot of people from across the campus to discuss a very important and timely issue on this campus,” he said. “I’m hopeful that as more and more students are having dialogue about this tough issue, N.C. State can be a leader in this tough discussion.”
Dawkins also said the committee will attempt to hold its first meeting prior to Thansgiving Break.
“It’s our goal to have a meeting next week,” Dawkins said. “If student schedules don’t work out we will have a meeting after the break.”
The Chancellor’s request asked for a preliminary report from the committee by Jan. 16 and a final report by Feb. 2.
“We’re not going to wait around,” Dawkins said of the upcoming meetings. “This discussion will be productive.”
Committee finalizes wording of bill
The Senate Select Committee on Hate Crimes finalized Resolution 36 Tuesday night in preparation for tonight’s emergency Student Senate meeting.
The resolution, designed to address the Nov. 5 incident in the Free Expression Tunnel, makes recommendations to Administration about how to punish the four students involved in the incident and makes recommendations for how to change the University’s policies on harassment.
Committee chair Kelli Rogers, a junior in political science and Student Senate Pro-Tempore, said getting the bill how the committee desired was difficult.
“The hardest process was to figure out what the students wanted,” she said. “We are supposed to be the voice of the students.”
Rogers said committee members spoke to constituents at length about how to draft the bill and make it representative of student concerns.
“The committee met for more than 20 hours,” Rogers said of the drafting process. “This bill is very strong.”
Rogers said she was glad to see the amount of cooperation from Senators during the last few days.
“It’s one of the most cooperative efforts I’ve seen Student Senate do in a long time,” she said. “I’ve gotten input from more than committe members.”
When the Student Senate meets on Wednesday, Rogers said she expects the bill to pass.
“The larger majority of the Student Senate is fully behind the bill,” she said. “There may be more amendments, but it will pass. It needs to be passed.”
