Due to a reporting error, this story incorrectly stated what the student advisory committee to the chancellor and Chancellor Thorp agreed to do regarding a task force to evaluate a proposed Latino Center. A decision on whether to form a task force will be made later this week. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.
Chancellor Holden Thorp suggested creating a broader multicultural center Monday as an alternative to the proposed Latina/o center.
No plans are beyond the preliminary stages, but discussions of a Latino-focused institution dominated the first meeting between Thorp and the student advisory committee to the chancellor.
Thorp said he recognized the need for a Latino center, but proposed the multicultural center as a way to encompass other current and potential groups.
Thorp and other administrators have been hesitant to support a Latino-only center.
Citing the other centers like the Stone Center and the American Indian Center, Thorp questioned whether there wasn’t a better way to address all cultures on campus.
“Maybe this is telling us that we have a different challenge, a broader challenge, than just the individual ones that we’ve been addressing,” Thorp said.
“I certainly want to do everything we can to serve the needs of Latina and Latino students, and I can’t imagine a more timely thing to work on.”
But he also said he has reservations about how the center would fit in with other Latino organizations on campus.
“Let’s define the problem the best we can, and then figure out how to address the concerns,” he said. “My overwhelming interest is to make sure that we don’t generate multiple entities that are competing with each other and duplicating effort and resources.”
Ron Bilbao, who is beginning his third year on the committee, began discussing the center two years ago with Moeser.
Bilbao said his biggest concern is making sure that Latino students do not feel like they are falling through the cracks of a large blanket organization.
Thorp and members of the committee agreed to create a task force to explore these concerns.
That group will be assembled after Thorp meets with Provost Bernadette Gray-Little on Friday to discuss the center.
Also on the committee’s agenda were examining safety for graduate and professional students, creating guidelines for student protests on campus and increasing students’ interest in academics.
Todd Dalrymple, student body vice president and chairman of the committee, said he was pleased with Thorp’s attitude and surprised by the meeting’s productivity, considering the committee’s ambitious agenda.
“We have the capacity to achieve a lot this year,” Dalrymple said.
The committee’s next meeting is Oct. 8.
Thorp said his biggest concern with the advisory committee was making sure that all students’ needs are addressed, not just those who are actively involved on campus.
“We have to try to make our process one that will allow us to hear from everyone,” Thorp said. “And that’s a big challenge.”
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
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