By: Jonathan Teal
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.— In response to Chancellor Steinmetz email on diversity at the U of A, Walton College and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion launched the “Let’s Talk” program.
As of this semester, only 21.5% of students at the U of A are a part of a minority group, according to the Fall 2020 Preliminary Enrollment Report. 9.2% of students are a part of the Hispanic minority, and only 4.5% of students make up the Black minority.
Dr. Barbara Lofton, the assistant dean of diversity and inclusion for the Walton College, said the other 78.5% of students must have the necessary tools to talk about racism.
“In order to address racism appropriately, it’s important for you have all the necessary background information, understand what your biases and prejudices are,” Lofton said.
The “Let’s Talk” program’s purpose is to get the conversation started. This event offers students, faculty, and the Fayetteville community multiple ways to get involved, such as a speaker series and discussion groups.
These discussion groups will be centered around a New York Times Best Seller So You Want To Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo.
Walton officials realize this is a tough topic to speak about, but Cindy Moehring, founder of the Business Integrity Leadership Initiative, said normalizing the conversation can help get started.
“It just makes the whole community feel more inclusive,” said Moehring. “It helps all of us together move forward in a more productive way.
They realize they have a long way ahead of them before this issue is resolved, but Dr. Lofton said she hopes this is a big first step.
“I’m hoping that students, faculty, staff, even community members will have a better understanding about race and how we can talk about it in an informed way,” Lofton said.
Students and faculty can go to the Walton College’s website to sign up for the program.