The University of Rochester’s final report on race and diversity says the UR needs to make a stronger effort to attract more minorities to both the student body and faculty.
University President Joel Seligman released the final report this week in an email to the entire university community. He’s asking all interested parties to read it and email him back by November 10th. He’s also asking them to attend a series of town hall meetings on the River Campus Tuesday and Wednesday.
Seligman says final decision on the report’s recommendations will be made only after those, and possibly more, meetings are held.
Among the findings in the report: more than 40 percent of minority students attending the University of Rochester say they’ve experienced bias, discrimination or harassment at the university, compared with fewer than 16 percent of all students. Although the number of minority students has grown by some 70 percent over the past ten years, they’re still only about 10 percent of the student body. About four percent of the teaching staff is minority, although their numbers have also grown over ten years.
The report had its origins last year when racist comments were made on the social media site “Yik Yak,” attributed to UR students.