UNT "Coalition" demanding admin resignations

xyresic · June 12, 2020

Saw this online today - demanding he be fired, not because he is racist, but because he is not vocally anti-racist enough. On top of this they refused to hear the plan the school worked up for them because they are tired of meeting and it is not their job. Gotta love today's cancel culture. UNT is in my experience the most liberal/progressive school in Texas.

I support the leadership of UNT

Edited June 13, 2020 by xyresic

meangreen11 · June 12, 2020

xyresic · June 12, 2020

Interestingly this doesn't seem like "nothing" - these are both from today:

I had a productive meeting with #UNT administrators yesterday regarding demands from students about action on our diversity and inclusion plans. I am inviting leaders of our various student groups to meet next Wednesday to review our action plan.

I will publicly announce our plans after the meeting with student leaders. I value direct conversation with our students, faculty and staff. Our plans will include the direct involvement of our student leaders.

Edit - these are statements from the school not me.

Edited June 15, 2020 by xyresic

Hunter Green · June 12, 2020

According to College Factual, UNT's diversity is ranked 197 out of 2,176 colleges nationwide.

https://www.collegefactual.com/

Exactly how have black students been mistreated for the last 25 years by academia?

MeanGreenTeeth · June 12, 2020

Libs just eating their own. Neal isn't exactly anything close to a right-winger, much less a racist. I wonder how long these witch hunts will go on before there is finally blowback.

Rudy · June 13, 2020

4 hours ago, Hunter Green said:

According to College Factual, UNT's diversity is ranked 197 out of 2,176 colleges nationwide.

https://www.collegefactual.com/

Exactly how have black students been mistreated for the last 25 years by academia?

There's too many white people at NT. That's all it boils down to.

KRAM1 · June 13, 2020

Neal Smatresk is the VERY best President this University has EVER had. He is incredibly "student centered" and has done much to improve the "student life experience" and he is also incredibly focused on being a "minority serving institution". This Coalition of 1965 folks do not even have the nerve to sign their names to this poorly written and worded document. I would guess that none of them were even alive in 1965. And, if they think for one second that today's UNT is the 1956 UNT they are delusional.

I know of no other university president in the nation that has thrown himself squarely in the fire as Neal Smatresk and almost immediately as these events started to unfold. Open discussions with students one on one, town hall meetings with students and faculty and staff, and having staff work up responses and actions that will be taken based on the feedback he has received from students, faculty, staff and, yes, alumni.

It will be a very sad day for the present and future UNT should Neal Smatresk either be forced out or decide that he has simply had enough of the crap-ola and leave/retire on his own.

KRAM1 · June 13, 2020

15 hours ago, Rudy said:

There's too many white people at NT. That's all it boils down to.

But, getting to be fewer and fewer every semester as a percentage of total student population would be my guess starting this coming semester. Wonder if anyone is tracking that sort of thing? Ha!

97and03 · June 14, 2020

20 hours ago, KRAM1 said:

But, getting to be fewer and fewer every semester as a percentage of total student population would be my guess starting this coming semester. Wonder if anyone is tracking that sort of thing? Ha!

The way this is written makes it seem like you are opposed to a smaller percentage of white students. Seems like this would just be a normal trend due to changing demographics.

There are groups out there that oppose the increase in the “minority” population but I am sure you are not among those. It would be helpful if you could clarify your statement because it was a bit ambiguous.

KRAM1 · June 14, 2020

1 hour ago, 97and03 said:

The way this is written makes it seem like you are opposed to a smaller percentage of white students. Seems like this would just be a normal trend due to changing demographics.

There are groups out there that oppose the increase in the “minority” population but I am sure you are not among those. It would be helpful if you could clarify your statement because it was a bit ambiguous.

You are funny...trying to find the boogeyman in every post. I do not oppose or support any percentage of any racial group at UNT. I support UNT. The racial make-up and population will sort itself out. My point is that with the total emphasis on minority student population at UNT, I believe we might just see a decrease in the percentage of Caucasian students that enroll at UNT. Makes perfect sense to me given the emphasis currently. Do you not emphasize that which you wish to happen? Do you not work harder to achieve a goal you set than on other projects? Don’t know why you want to try to find a boogeyman here. But, I hope this helps you.

97and03 · June 15, 2020

19 hours ago, KRAM1 said:

You are funny...trying to find the boogeyman in every post. I do not oppose or support any percentage of any racial group at UNT. I support UNT. The racial make-up and population will sort itself out. My point is that with the total emphasis on minority student population at UNT, I believe we might just see a decrease in the percentage of Caucasian students that enroll at UNT. Makes perfect sense to me given the emphasis currently. Do you not emphasize that which you wish to happen? Do you not work harder to achieve a goal you set than on other projects? Don’t know why you want to try to find a boogeyman here. But, I hope this helps you.

Was not trying to be funny at all. I was reading something into your post and was asking for clarification so that others did not also misunderstand your intent. Thank you for providing it.

I think the emphasis on minority students is not just an end in itself but rather a desire to provide better opportunities to those students since they are generally under represented in higher education. I don’t see why white students would not want to attend a university that looks like American society in general.

Again thanks for clarifying.

UNTLifer · June 15, 2020

On 6/12/2020 at 5:55 PM, xyresic said:

Interestingly this doesn't seem like "nothing" - these are both from today:

I had a productive meeting with #UNT administrators yesterday regarding demands from students about action on our diversity and inclusion plans. I am inviting leaders of our various student groups to meet next Wednesday to review our action plan.

I will publicly announce our plans after the meeting with student leaders. I value direct conversation with our students, faculty and staff. Our plans will include the direct involvement of our student leaders.

I am not asking you to reveal your identity, but what is your role in this process, if you don't mind sharing?

I found this letter interesting:

https://californiaglobe.com/section-2/uc-berkeley-history-professors-open-letter-against-blm-police-brutality-and-cultural-orthodoxy/

xyresic · June 15, 2020

I have no direct role, just a fan & supporter of the school. The quoted post was from the schools press release, apologies if that wasn't clear.

I know many of the AD/faculty and staff and I think overall they are trying to do things right - was just voicing a bit of frustration at a small set of students trying to leverage current events in a retaliatory way for not getting a multimillion dollar building for "diversity" in the fall.

Edited June 15, 2020 by xyresic

UNTLifer · June 15, 2020

2 hours ago, xyresic said:

I have no direct role, just a fan & supporter of the school. The quoted post was from the schools press release, apologies if that wasn't clear.

I know many of the AD/faculty and staff and I think overall they are trying to do things right - was just voicing a bit of frustration at a small set of students trying to leverage current events in a retaliatory way for not getting a multimillion dollar building for "diversity" in the fall.

Thanks. Yep, I read that wrong.

TheColonyEagle · June 16, 2020

On 6/15/2020 at 6:55 AM, 97and03 said:

I think the emphasis on minority students is not just an end in itself but rather a desire to provide better opportunities to those students since they are generally under represented in higher education.

Why are they under represented? What is keeping them out of college? What more can colleges do?

Sincere question

MCMLXXX · June 17, 2020

On 6/15/2020 at 6:55 AM, 97and03 said:

I think the emphasis on minority students is not just an end in itself but rather a desire to provide better opportunities to those students since they are generally under represented in higher education.

Thankfully this is being addressed by the current administration.

Executive Order in 2017.

https://theundefeated.com/features/trump-signs-executive-order-on-hbcus/

Verified as giving more money than any other president in 2018.

https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/verify/verify-has-trump-given-more-money-to-hbcus-than-any-other-president/65-543185506

Bipartisan bill signed by President continued the commitment.

https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2019-12-19/trump-signs-bill-restoring-funding-for-black-colleges

Did Trump save HBCUs?

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/01/23/trumps-claim-about-saving-hbcus-was-false-his-administration-has-largely-backed

Some HBCU leaders, for example, point to the March 2018 move by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to cancel the repayment of more than $300 million in federal relief loans that four historically black colleges took out after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit in 2005.

“She was genuinely interested in working on our behalf,” said Walter Kimbrough, president of Dillard University in New Orleans, which received loan relief from DeVos. “That’s their big win” with HBCUs, he said of the administration.

97and03 · June 17, 2020

8 hours ago, TheColonyEagle said:

Why are they under represented? What is keeping them out of college? What more can colleges do?

Sincere question

Well there are lots of factors that are beyond the control of colleges to address. Most notably that schools are funded by property taxes. Thus rich areas have better schools bc they get more money and therefore can hire and retain teachers with much higher salaries. Not to mention modern classrooms, equipment, extra curricular activities, etc. Often these kids from lower income areas don’t have extra money for tutors or SAT test prep, and student athletes won’t have personal athletic trainers like many affluent students might.

So one thing colleges can do is to recruit those areas. For example, UNT has (had?) a program called Emerald Eagle Scholars that packaged financial aid for first generation, lower income students and then provided additional academic support, staff mentors, and tried to get them to participate in extracurricular clubs and activities. In my time at NT I mentored a couple of these kids and they definitely struggled with the adjustment to college life and didn’t have parents with the experience to guide them through it.

Overall, a university can try to make sure its student and staff populations are inclusive and generally reflect the make up of society overall. Addressing racism on campus when it rears it’s ugly head is important to keep the trust of the students. A bad reputation on racial issues will keep well-qualified minority students from applying to a certain university.
I have been out of higher education for more than a decade now so my perspective is not as fresh as some others on this board. I think a lot of issues need to be addressed long before college or even high school to make sure every student has a level playing field.