The campus has taken several steps to address issues of campus climate and concerns voiced by the Asian Pacific Islander community on campus.
A 13-member task force charged with making recommendations on campus climate and diversity issues began its work this week. The Task Force on Campus Community was established, in part, to respond to concerns raised by the Asian Pacific Islander community.
At a Feb. 8 teach-in attended by about 300 people, a broad coalition of students called for increased funding, staffing, space and programming in support of Asian American students and mandatory diversity and conflict management training for faculty members, incoming students, student organizations and other groups on campus.
"Many of the suggestions may well be feasible," said Janet Gong, assistant vice chancellor for student affairs. "However, the university needs to vigorously work with the task force as well as other students, staff and faculty members to ensure we clearly understand the issues and design solutions that have impact and are sustainable."
The task force, which met for the first time Tuesday, is chaired by Diane Russell, the associate director of student housing with responsibility for residential education programs. It includes representatives from the Associated Students, the Student Programs and Activities Center, the diversity education program, Student Judicial Affairs, the Counseling Center, the Cross-Cultural Center, mediation services, and the multicultural immersion program, among others.
Specifically, the task force has been asked to: discuss the issues challenging the campus’s ability to "live the Principles of Community"; review existing programs that address issues of community and consider the value of coordinating, consolidating or expanding existing programs; and identify areas for the development and implementation of new approaches.
Carol Wall, vice chancellor for student affairs, asked the task force to consider a broad range of recommendations focused on educational programming, intervention and referral mechanisms, promotional efforts and information dissemination, response mechanisms and enforcement.
The task force has been asked to make its recommendations, which will form the basis of a student affairs initiative on community, to Wall by May 18.
Concerns about support for the Asian Pacific Islander community and about campus climate were sharpened by conflicts involving Asian Pacific Islander students this fall.
In enforcing student conduct policies, Student Judicial Affairs is continuing to work with the students involved in the incidents and, with the Counseling Center and Student Programs and Activities Center, facilitated mediation sessions for the groups involved.
Broader issues also were discussed at the Reaffirming Ethnic Awareness and Cultural Harmony conference and two student leadership conferences in January.
Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef met with ASUCD senators in January, and the issues have been raised at the city of Davis human relations commission and at two student-hosted forums on campus climate, safety and student-police relationships.
In an open letter to the campus community Jan. 29, Wall and Vanderhoef denounced violent and unacceptable behavior that is racially motivated.
"Our campus holds the Principles of Community as an expectation of behavior for all its members," they wrote. "In joining this community, we all have assumed the obligation ‘to confront and reject all manifestations of discrimination’ and ‘to maintain a climate of justice marked by respect for each other.’
"We must–each of us–reaffirm our commitment to ensuring that none among us is deprived of his or her right to a safe and respectful community," Vanderhoef and Wall said. "That common right is fundamental, essential and a promise we have made to one another."
Also related to the issue of promoting a healthy campus community, the university is recruiting for an associate executive vice chancellor for campus community relations. The person hired for the new post will advise deans, vice chancellors, vice provosts and other senior campus administrators on matters of campus community.