Black Leaders Urge University Of Colorado to go on Offensive Against Racism
DENVER
Black community leaders recently urged the University of Colorado to recruit more minority students and faculty and to protect them from harassment after a string of racially tinged incidents on the Boulder, Colo., campus.
“Racism is a cancer and there can be no peaceful coexistence with cancer,” says the Rev. Paul Burleson, president of the Greater Metropolitan Ministerial Alliance. “Either we get rid of this cancer or it will get rid of us.”
A 20-year-old CU student suffered a broken jaw in June in what police say was a racially motivated attack. Two CU students face charges over a racist e-mail sent to a Hispanic cross-country runner (see Diverse, Jan. 12). Other racially charged incidents on the campus are also under investigation.
Burleson is a member of a commission that newly appointed CU President Hank Brown created in August to study the problems and recommend changes. The panel, made up of about 40 business and civic leaders, met for the first time on Jan. 21.
“In 2006, you’ll see a much more aggressive African-American community,” says former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, also a commission member. “Our expectations for 2006 are very high.”
The commission will study diversity at the university’s other campuses after it makes its recommendations for the Boulder campus, CU spokeswoman Michele McKinney says. After the commission issues its recommendations, CU-Boulder Chancellor Phil DiStefano will have 60 days to tell Brown how he plans to address them.
