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Two white students were arrested this week after a video of them went viral shouting the n-word toward African American students, then laughing on Friday, Oct. 11 in the parking lot near the Charter Oak Apartments.
Several other similar incidents have been reported at UConn in recent months, leading to students expressing the desire for change on campus.
The private meeting will be held at the African American Cultural Center, where Katsouleas will take questions and discuss concerns that students and the community have. He is also expected to discuss the school’s search for a Chief Diversity Officer.
“Our students believe they have a right to learn in an environment that is welcoming and respectful,” Katsouleas wrote in an open letter. “ I agree, as I know does everyone on the Board of Trustees and the many faculty and staff groups I have met to listen about what they care about.
“Racism exists at UConn as it does in society. And we cannot say that students and others aren’t affected daily by implicit bias, micro-aggressions, and remnants of structural racism common in historically white institutions,” the president said. “I am determined and optimistic we will make visible and substantive progress that truly makes a difference in our environment.”
Katsouleas’ meeting comes on the heels of several other events and community meetings regarding racism on campus, including a march and meeting with the NAACP.
The president also said that he will be working with the President’s Student Diversity Advisory Council, our university diversity committees and the provost and deans on both short-term initiatives and long-term planning in support of their goals.
“As you said, in the recent racial crisis, I stumbled out of the blocks in being slow to show my support for the African American community, and I apologize for that. I hope to make up for that going forward,” Katsouleas said. “Bias and bigotry against any group or identity have no place here or anywhere else, and I condemn it unequivocally.
“An insult to a group or individual based on their identity is an insult to us all, and to our values. It is also an affront to academic freedom in that it attempts to silence voices we need to hear in order to achieve understanding and seek the truth. “
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