SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Dec. 22, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — On Wednesday night, the University of Utah’s Housing and Residential Education department released a statement outlining actions HRE plans to take in the face of recent incidents of racism on campus.
In addressing these reported incidents, HRE says, “We responded quickly by conducting internal investigations and providing resources to the impacted students.”
“However, it is clear that we need to do more and that we can be better. We fell short by not being more transparent with our housing community and by not being more collaborative with our partners and colleagues across the U campus.”
HRE plans to strengthen connections between the reporting and investigating staff and “campus support groups that can make recommendations and help put timely solutions in place,” the statement says.
“We will also engage with the Racist and Bias Incident Response Team and with our campus partners sooner so these incidents can be shared with students living in our residence halls and the broader campus community.
“We believe better collaboration will lead to in-depth investigations that can identify patterns, and/or connect incidents that may appear unrelated.”
According to the statement, HRE is re-reviewing the cases in an effort to see what may have been missed and how future investigations can be more effective.
“In January, we will re-train all HRE staff and student leaders on the U’s Racist and Bias Incident Response Team process,” HRE says. “We will also be working closely with Student Affairs leadership and others on campus to develop a plan of action for listening to residents to identify areas for improvement, as well as strengthen our information-sharing protocols and our accountability and conduct processes.”
The U of U community is being asked to report any racist or hateful behavior to the RBIRT team here.
The university also has support staff and resources available to help those who have been impacted by racist or biased acts. A list of those resources can be found by clicking here.
