After more than 350 students rallied outside South Building, Chancellor Carol Folt addressed the need to continue conversations about race on campus at Friday's Faculty Council meeting.
“This is really important," she said. "It’s something we not only have to be aware of but be participants in, and we need to be listeners too."
With protests at the University of Missouri catching the attention of universities nationwide, Folt said the way people are viewing race on campuses is changing, but there is a need for more conversation.
“We’ve got lots of people on our faculty that know how and want to talk about it, and many who may not feel that they do know, but would like to know,” she said.
“Even though we thought we were doing well, we obviously have lots of ways that as a faculty and as leaders we can do to help ourselves and help our students.”
Faculty Chairperson Bruce Cairns, who was in the audience of Faculty Council members, said he supports Carolina Conversations, a series of campus dialogues on race and inclusion.
“This is a very important time for the University, and it’s clear that there are a lot of emotions — there are a lot of real challenges,” he said. “It’s quite clear (the changes) need to be taken seriously at Carolina. We need to be more like a family rather than just a community, and I have the sense that this is how we are addressing this.”
Nancy Fisher, chairperson of the Fixed-Term Faculty Committee, and Rumay Alexander, chairperson of the Community and Diversity Committee and Folt's newly appointed special assistant, continued the conversation with a presentation on diversity issues among fixed-term faculty and racial and professional labeling.
According to their report, 80 percent of fixed-term faculty are white and 54 percent are female.