Our campus has recently been awakened to the ugly effects of prejudice and intolerance. While we regret the hurt and pain that these events have caused, we are hopeful that they have ushered in a new era of openness and compassion. On Sunday evening, students, faculty, staff, and administrators packed the student government-sponsored Campus Climate Forum to hear from and have questions answered by President Casey. The forum allowed for views to be expressed, challenged and interrogated in a respectful way. Though we felt the event was a success, more can be done.
Yesterday morning, we met with President Casey to discuss the next steps to further the conversation. We discussed actions student government will take to facilitate discourse to end insensitive behavior on campus. These discussions should not end. We hope members of the DePauw community will join us in engaging in these open and active dialogues. During the forum, President Casey promised to involve the greek community in these efforts.
Sigma Chi fraternity has responded and agreed to host student leaders from DePauw Student Government, Interfraternity Council, Panhellenic Council, National PanHellenic Council and Multicultural Greek Council and President Casey as we discuss ways to heal, to inform and to lead our campus to a more inclusive tomorrow. We look forward to involving any and all willing participants in this discourse as we continue to strive toward our full potential as one campus, one community.
Charles Pierre
Student body president
Nic Flores
Student body executive vice president