With multicultural clubs and organizations garnering more attention on campus, such as AFROH’s Spring Weekend Culture Couture Fashion Show, and C.H.A.N.G.E. officially gaining cohort status in the Student Government Association, increased awareness concerning issues of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility has come with that attention.
In the original list of demands put forth by C.H.A.N.G.E. in September 2022, the second was to hold a university-wide town hall for students to address concerns with President W. Taylor Reveley IV and other university officials. That town hall was held on April 19.
The two-hour long town hall was split into six sections: Introductions, the Action Plan, Inclusivity, Equity, Accessibility, and Open Forum. Following the discussion pertaining to the Action Plan, the panel members were limited to three minutes per answer.
ACTION PLAN
After introductions, each panel member took turns discussing what they have done in their respective fields to promote the points in the Action Plan signed by President Reveley. At the time of writing, the action plan is currently not available online.
Vice President for Student Affairs Cameron Patterson announced a new committee for the potential survey, which hopes to better measure campus climate, that will begin distribution during the Fall 2023 semester. He also announced that a newsletter has been put into motion with another committee, and that Canvas will begin to be used to promote student employment beginning in Fall 2023.
Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Dr. Larissa Smith, focused on the Action Plan points relating to faculty. She dove into the hiring process for potential new faculty, including an electronic application program that pushes out job opportunities to diverse pools of applicants and a multi-month long hiring process (in-part) to ensure potential faculty will serve a student body that is, “increasingly diverse.” She also touched on the creation of the Provost’s Advisory Committee, a mentorship program for faculty of underrepresented groups, and professional development with DEI focuses. Around ten minutes into her answer, she was cut short for the sake of time.
President Reveley primarily spoke about his experience dealing with the state government, as a large part of his job as president is to represent Longwood to lawmakers in Richmond. He noted that, “The state has still, remarkably, not adopted its budget yet for the next year,” saying that, “I’m certainly ready to entrust the state government to you all, it would be run better.” Those comments were made about the Action Plan item concerning the Multicultural Building Space, which President Reveley referred to as, “Ultimately a really big financial commitment.” In particular, the building would need an HVAC unit, which can cost several million dollars according to President Reveley. He then asked Dr. Smith to return to the microphone to discuss tenure - as April saw the promotion and tenure of thirty-four faculty members. Three of those faculty members, or ~9% of them, are from underrepresented backgrounds. President Reveley referred to this as a “great development.” Around 10% of the faculty at Longwood are from underrepresented groups, according to Dr. Smith.
INCLUSIVITY
The next section of the Town Hall discussed inclusivity, particularly what each of the panel members were doing in their respective spheres to promote the inclusion of students, faculty, and staff of historically underrepresented groups.
During Patterson’s answer, he spoke on two large initiatives being taken on by both the Office of Student Affairs. The Student Engagement Unit is currently launching the BonD (Building on Diversity) Transition program, which Patterson described as, “A pre-New Lancer Day experience that is aimed at serving… historically underrepresented and underserved communities.” Another topic that Patterson touched on was the concerns brought up with Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS). A recent development on this front is the hiring of Tianna Jordan to “A position that is focused on helping [CAPS] meet the needs of our BIPOC students,” per Patterson. CAPS has also focused recent attention on the availability of services, in particular, “Remov[ing] barriers in terms of access to appointments.”
Dr. Smith focused her attention on programming, specifically what kind of academic programs that Academic Affairs can offer. In the 2020-2021 academic year, Academic Affairs oversaw the creation of the U.S. Race and Ethnic Studies Minor with a rollout in Fall 2021.
In regards to professional development and other campus-wide events, Dr. Smith touched on a number of opportunities that students, faculty, and staff have had in regards to inclusivity. During the annual Gordon Moss lecture held at the Moton Museum, Dr. Melvin Patrick Ely came to, “Talk about the history of enslaved people in Prince Edward County.” On April 5, Longwood awarded the annual Dos Passos Prize to Carolina De Robertis, a Uruguayan-American queer and genderqueer author. In response to student concerns, the Academic Affairs office is implementing Name Coach into Canvas, which will, “Enable users to put their preferred name, name pronunciation, and gender pronouns.”
President Reveley used his time to comment on the growing diversity of Longwood during his tenure as president.
EQUITY
Patterson primarily discussed hiring of Student Affairs (including RCL and CAPS) staff, including creating a, “Staff community that is reflective of the Commonwealth in which we live.”
Dr. Smith brought programming in Academic Affairs back to the forefront in her answer, mentioning the Longwood LIFE program. Longwood LIFE is a two-year non-degree post-secondary certificate day program, with a main focus on social skills, vocational training, and portfolio development. She highlighted the Center for Global Engagement, specifically for their outreach to students with immigrant status and for their Global Leaders program. Dr. Smith also highlighted the Office of Sponsored Programs and Research, which has applied for National Science Foundation Grants; and the LIFE STEM program, which, “Provides scholarships to academically high achieving students who come from low socio-economic backgrounds.”
President Reveley commented on the Quality Enhancement Plan, led by Dr. Pam Tracy. This describes a number of plans and goals put together by a committee of faculty members, this year highlighting post-graduate success.
ACCESSIBILITY
In the final pre-written question of the Town Hall, panel members were asked to speak on what they are doing to remedy accessibility issues in their spheres. Dr. Smith went first, invoking her recent experience spraining her ankle and having to use a scooter for several weeks. In her words, she, “Experienced the ways in which our campus is inaccessible.” In the final buildout of Allen Hall, Dr. Smith noted that, “There are not internally accessible doors” in Allen. Some of the other accessibility struggles that both panel members and audience members referred to included loose bricks and improper spacing of tables in D-Hall.
Patterson noted discussions in the Student Government about accessibility in recent weeks. He noted the potential of accessibility audits on campus, potentially in conjunction with the Accessibility Resources Office (ARO). He said, “As we think about the things we need to create more accessibility…there are costs to that, but some of the things from an accessibility audit are things we can easily fix.”
President Reveley, in regards to these concerns, said, “Just to keep in mind to the way that we’re lucky is when people before even the three of us were thinking though the broad contours of the way campus physically fits together… it’s really notable that it is all, relatively speaking, accessible.”
OPEN FORUM
Throughout the two-hour town hall, there were several opportunities for open forum, where students and other audience members could ask non-pre-written questions about the topics at hand. One of the topics discussed included the Title VI office, where one student brought forward a question of whether or not the office applied to student-faculty interactions as well as student-student interactions. Patterson said that it’s, “An area where we’ve got to continue to strengthen.” When asked if there is a gray area, Patterson said, “I’d like to see it better, that’s what I’m saying.” President Reveley then followed up and said, “The gray area, more broadly, is real.” Other topics discussed include negative staff interactions (to which Dr. Smith pointed out that, “Rumors aren’t actionable”), training, CAPS, and a number of other topics. At the very end, CHANGE chairperson Miguel Diaz-Montealegre brought forward concerns about the newsletter committee, saying, “The point of contact for that initiative has been not responsible in keeping up with that responsibility.” He also pointed out that he believed, “The responsibility for this newsletter is falling completely on CHANGE.” The panel members did not respond to his statements, and Diaz-Montealegre did not point out who the point of contact is.
In conclusion, the panel thanked audience members for their questions and participation. This town hall was part of a continuously developing story surrounding CHANGE, their demands, and the progress on President Reveley’s Action Plan.
