University of Rochester President Joel Seligman is responding to a petition presented to him by some student groups last Friday as part of a march and rally.
The event was in part to show support to students at the University of Missouri, but it was also focused on racism the students see happening at the U of R.
Seligman's statement issued on Monday says that he "cannot ignore evidence that our campus climate can be improved." He notes that there have been a number of racist postings in social media recently, particularly on the anonymous app Yik Yak.
Seligman says that some weeks ago he approved a campus-wide survey of faculty and staff to assess the campus climate; that should be released next May.
Seligman also released a number of of other steps, including forming a Presidential Commission on Race and Diversity to conduct town hall meetings on issues involving the campus climate.
--He is also asking the commission to recommend whether the U of R should bar Yik Yak from use over university facilities.
Seligman says for some time, the university has been working to develop a 'bias related incident reporting system,' and he now wants college officials to implement the system no later than the beginning of the next semester in January.
He also wants university officials to determine whether additional provisions should become part of the Student Code of Conduct to address hate speech.
Seligman says that the goal should be to create a university that is welcoming and supportive of everyone.
