Amid the closure of the Office of Multicultural Affairs, many University of Memphis students sought clarity during the Student Government Association's first town hall of the semester, held Aug. 27 in the University Center Theatre.
Nearly 60 students from diverse backgrounds assembled at the Town Hall meeting in hopes of voicing their opinions and getting answers about how to move Multicultural Affairs.
President Bill Hardgrave could not be in attendance due to other obligations, but other UofM staff were present including Vice President of Student Leadership Affairs, Melinda Carlson, and university attorney Melanie Murray. Members of the National Alumni Board were also in attendance.
The two-hour town hall meeting began with SGA President Chris Bailey emphasizing the need for student leadership in order to have a stronger and united campus community with the absence of Multicultural Affairs.
“A system of advocacy and support has to come from each other,” Bailey said.
Following his remarks, the remainder of the meeting was an open discussion where students had two minutes to share their testimonies about the closure of the Multicultural Affairs Office. Many expressed frustration over what they described as a lack of communication and transparency from university administration.
“We are grieving this week,” said Miracles Gillespie, a member of P.A.U.S.E and the Black Student Association.
University of Memphis attorney Melanie Murray gave direct answers about everything students asked. “There were no options, the department had to go. The law is the law,” she said.
To clarify, although the Office of Multicultural Affairs is closed, organizations under that department will not be affected, meaning that all organizations are free to have their scheduled plans. “You all are free to resume the program,” Melinda Carlson said.
The 11 organizations that were affected by the closure are:
- Asian American Association
- Black Scholars Unlimited
- Black Student Association
- Empowered Men of Color
- Hispanic Student Association
- Indian Student Association
- Muslim Student Association
- The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
- Professional Assertive United Sisters of Excellence
- Stonewall Tigers Gender & Sexuality Alliance
- Vietnamese Student Association
Throughout the meeting, both students and staff stressed the point of having transparency between students and administration moving forward this semester. As the student body voice, SGA will be present during future discussions to relay information back to UofM students.
Despite the office closure, multicultural programming on campus will continue. The Multicultural Mixer will take place Wednesday, Sept. 3, at 7 p.m. in the Rose Theatre.
SGA will also host a voter registration on Tuesday, September 16th. The next town hall meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 24.
Paige Stallworth is a reporter for The Daily Helmsman. She can be reached at Paige.S@memphis.edu.
