Collegiate Times

As the university reaches out for a change of relationships among the diverse community members, representatives of different organizations and of the campus community spoke out at a campus climate check-up Monday night.

?It?s a way for students around campus to voice their opinions about different diversity issues,? said Manisha Patel, sophomore economics and history major. ?As president of the Residence Hall Federation, I wanted to make sure to have a lot of RAs attend to discuss remarks written on white boards and things that are heard around the residence halls.?

At the event, Zenobia Hikes, vice president for student affairs, discussed an incident that happened in an on-campus residence hall this weekend, when two visiting students wrote racial slurs that mentioned lynching a female student.
?This particular incident falls under the free speech clause because it was not a direct threat against the student,? Hikes said. ?Virginia does not have a hate crime statute and language that has been used on two different occasions falls under the free speech clause.?

Tom Brown, representative from the Student Life Office, thanked the various members of the planning committee.
?Over 140 community members have pre-registered for this event,? Brown said. ?This is three times the number of last semester?s climate check-up.?

Patel said with the ?Principles of Community,? many organizations are trying to make certain issues apparent so that a change may be made.

?Bringing awareness of different issues on campus is the goal of this event,? Patel said.

Brown said that we should want Virginia Tech to be an inclusive community.

Members of the planning committee and others proceeded toward the podium and grabbed large pieces of cloth that had certain words of concern on them and showed them to the audience in a dramatic manner.

The words included oppression, taunting, racism, intolerance, silence, intimidation, homophobia and violence.
Hikes also thanked officials from the Student Life Office who helped put the event together and expressed her pleasure in the increase of attendance from last year.

?Even if we don?t agree with a particular philosophy or religion above all we must respect the dignity of other human beings,? Hikes said.

Hikes said the university community must assume responsibility for certain incidents that occur.

?It takes courage, but we must, in order to change the community, in order for it to be a better place, we have to invest the time to make the change towards a stronger community that opens its arms to diversity,? Hikes said.

The rest of the time was spent with various speakers and activities, showing how a community is molded into one. 
Evelyn Wallington, associate director of residence life; Ann Kilkelly, professor of theatre arts and women?s studies; Michael Goode, the Student Government Association?s director of diversity affairs; and Kurt Krause, vice president for business affairs, were all in attendance.

Some said a lack of outreach is to blame for ignorance on certain issues. 

?One limitation is the disclosure of incidents,? said Yolanda Avent, associate coordinator for RHF and Hillcrest Hall. ?Nothing can be done if no one is informed of issues.?