KU forum on diversity and race features emotional testimony, demands for change

A forum on diversity and race at the University of Kansas on Wednesday featured emotional testimony and protests from students and faculty who said the administration had not done enough to improve conditions for blacks on campus, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported.

The event, moderated by KU chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little, had been prompted by weeks of tumult at the University of Missouri, where student protests against racism led to the resignations of a chancellor and a president.

On Wednesday in Lawrence, The Capital-Journal reported that KU’s forum attracted a crowd of more than 1,000, filling a student union auditorium while others watched from an overflow room.

The stage was temporarily taken over by a group called Rock Chalk Invisible Hawk. Expressing frustration with the persistence of racism on campus, the group announced a list of demands for change. The leader of the Black Student Union criticized Gray-Little, casting doubt on whether the university administration was serious about confronting racism on campus.

The Invisible Hawk group demanded that the university hire a director for the Office of Multicultural Affairs by Dec. 15 and that concealed weapons be banned from campus, among a list of more than a dozen demands.

This story was originally published November 11, 2015 at 7:38 PM with the headline "KU forum on diversity and race features emotional testimony, demands for change."