Introduction
We are reminded that the University of Minnesota is a land grant institution and that as such, its mission is to “promote access to higher education and collaborating to advance knowledge benefiting communities, the state, and world” (http://landgrant150.umn.edu).

It seems that to the current policy makers of this University, being diverse is not about being a person of color, a LGBTQ person, a differently-abled person, an Indigenous person, a person of various spiritual beliefs, or a working-class person. In the “diversity” framework of this University, being diverse is only about having the appropriated language to define yourself as diverse even when you don’t belong to any of the previously mentioned communities. This runs dangerously close to traditional colonialistic thinking, color-blind racism, and cultural appropriation. In doing so, the essence of actual diverse experiences, epistemologies and intellectual productions are consistently devalued and/or erased. In this setting, specific incidents and multiple climates of racism, homophobia, ableism, and classism are ignored or denied.

We are continuing a conversation that began in 1492, and that was highly visible during the 1969 Morrill Hall Student Takeover. This conversation was most recently revitalized by the Whose University? Campaign in 2010-2011. In continuing the questions that were asked at that point, and still in conversation with the leaders of that campaign, we emphasize the need for permanent and substantial structural changes as well as a sustained commitment to equity within the University.

Demands
With this in mind…

I. We expect engagement with substantive, instead of cosmetic, diversity.
●      We demand the university fundamentally reorganize its goals and priorities to include access and justice for local communities within the Twin Cities. 
●      As a public land grant university, access and justice for working class communities in the Twin Cities should be the priority.
        ○      This means reconsidering who benefits from the “transformation” of the UMN into a “world-class” public research university.
●      We demand the university redefine its commitment to “diversity” in a manner that always includes historically marginalized communities; that it be transparent and state 
        who it means by “diversity” in all of its communications concerning this issue, and that it honor the commitments it has made to these communities.  That is, if it states 
        that the following communities embody diversity…
        ○      “People of color, including underrepresented groups and new immigrant populations
        ○      People with both visible and invisible disabilities
        ○      People who identify as women
        ○      People of various gender and sexual identities and expressions
        ○      First-generation students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds” (https://diversity.umn.edu/aboutoed)
        ...then it must serve and support them in action and not just word. 

II. We expect that the recruitment, retention, and graduation of students from historically marginalized communities will become a priority.
●      We demand the university immediately remove language from its admissions application that questions prospective students about their prior convictions and criminal 
        offences, as well as their history of expulsion, suspension,  and/or probation in their former institutions (as stated in the UMN Freshman Application for Admissions, 
        2014).  We believe this is an issue of equity and justice, given that people of color are disproportionately targeted for expulsion and suspension in the education system 
        and disproportionately profiled, convicted, and incarcerated in the criminal legal system.  If these questions must be asked, then they can be asked after students have 
        been considered for admission.
        ○      This would be in line with the “Ban the Box” law that Governor Dayton passed in 2014, which removed questions regarding applicant’s criminal background from                          initial job applications.
●      We demand improved active recruitment of students at the community college level, and a commitment to support these students with adequate resources, financial and 
        otherwise. This includes orientation activities that parallel those of incoming freshmen, a mandatory tour of the second floor in Coffman Memorial Union and of Appleby 
        Hall, and literature that includes all of the resources readily available for students.
Let it be known that Whose Diversity? has listened to the constructive feedback of our community. As evidence that diversity is an ongoing commitment, and not an end to meet, we are created the following amendment to our list as of June 12th, 2014:
●      We demand the U of M create and implement a concrete plan for increasing the population of students of color - especially Black and African American students & 
        Chican@ and Latin@ students - and Indigenous students. The demographics of the undergraduate and graduate student populations should reflect the population of 
        the Twin Cities.
        ○      Based on our review of existing demographics of the student body, the number of American Indian students at the U are proportional to their numbers in the larger 
                 population.  While this may be accurate, we also are well aware that these percentages are products of conquest and genocide that decimated Indigenous people to                  numbers so small that the few survivors struggle to gain access to privileged spaces within higher education.  The genocide, forced assimilation, and
                 ethnic cleansing perpetrated against Indigenous populations through settler colonialism, particularly on land that now makes up the state of Minnesota against 
                 people of the Indigenous peoples must be remembered and acknowledged. Thus, we demand that the University increase the number of Indigenous students to 
                 reflect a percentage that is much higher than the percentage of Indigenous peoples in the Twin Cities and throughout the state of Minnesota. This would be a small 
                 effort by the University compared to the injustice of such a grave assault on humanity which continues to haunt the land and ideology upon which this institution is 
                 built.                 
        ○      The U of M must work to ensure the same graduation and retention rates for the aforementioned student populations (Black and African American students,                                  Chican@as and Latin@s students, and Indigenous students) as the rest of the student population. This means the U will provide the resources necessary for 
                 these student populations to be successful. These resources the U provides will be drawn from what student, staff, faculty, and community members who identify 
                 as indigenous and/or people of color state is needed to be successful, and in alignment with the rest of our demands (i.e., ensuring the permanency of student 
                 cultural centers, increased hiring and retention of faculty of color, etc.).
●      We demand the U of M create and implement a plan for meeting certain benchmarks:
        ○      In one year, the university student body should be proportional to one-half of the Twin Cities demographics of non-white groups. (For example, the student body 
                 should be 9% Black in one year compared to the city demographics of 18% Black residents).
        ○      In two years, the university student body should be proportional to three-fourths of the city demographics of non-white groups. (For example, the student body should 
                 be 13.5% Black in two years compared to the city demographics of 18% Black residents).
        ○      It is critical that the university make a fundamental and permanent commitment towards campus diversification.
●      In solidarity with SDS, we demand the administration begin lowering tuition to increase accessibility for working class Minnesotans. Rising education costs create an 
        economic squeeze that both pushes existing students into debt and prevents poorer Minnesotans from ever attending.  This prevents diversity of class and race, as non-
        white racial groups continue to be systemically impoverished and excluded from economic mobility.
●      We demand the university have available affordable housing in a central location on campus for those of lower socioeconomic status at a rate that students can 
        afford. This would ensure all students can be a central part of university life, and don’t experience it exclusively on the periphery.
        ○      This is in response to the increased construction of the “luxury apartments” along Washington Avenue and in Dinkytown.


III . We expect an emphasis be placed on the well-being of people from historically marginalized communities.
●      We demand an equal opportunity to succeed without enduring the mental anxiety of not being able to focus on and afford the university’s academic life.  Therefore, we 
        demand the university establish an emergency fund to provide assistance for students from historically marginalized communities in dire need of financial support. This 
        fund would be designed to keep students from becoming homeless, going hungry, or experiencing any emergency situation that threatens their health and well-being, 
        as  well as their ability to function as a student.
●      We demand cultural competency from medical, counseling and mental health services. The mismatch in biographies and consciousness between students         
        of historically marginalized identities and the medical providers that treat them, especially those in counseling and mental health services, should be immediately 
        addressed and corrected.
        ○      This includes having more medical providers of historically marginalized identities whose work is rooted in social justice.
        ○      It also includes having professionals who are conscious of how our lives are informed by social justice-oriented ideologies.
●      We demand a “Reporting Discrimination, Harassment & Retaliation” statement (https://diversity.umn.edu/eoaa/reportingdiscriminationandharassment) be attached to 
        every syllabi, and that all students be made aware that they may submit anonymous reports. This statement must clearly detail a necessary commitment by faculty to the 
        creation of safe spaces for historically marginalized communities within the classroom and clear options for students to file formal grievances against students, staff, 
        and faculty who commit acts deemed racist, homophobic, sexist, transphobic, xenophobic, etc.
●      We demand effective means be provided to address grievances with regard to discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.  There needs to be transparency within the 
        Office for Equity and Diversity about what the process entails, who receives complaints, and what the consequences are for perpetrators and repeat offenders.
●      We demand the university give marginalized students, staff, and faculty equal opportunity to implement change without threat of suspension, dismissal, and/or attacking 
        our right to organize. This includes providing adequate funding and support to the organizing avenues historically used by marginalized communities within the campus 
        e.g. the student cultural centers, ethnic/cultural faculty associations, student organizations, ethnic studies departments, and union representation and engagement.
●      We demand that the permanency of the student cultural centers (SCCs) be ensured and funded  by the university. We demand paid staff who will handle the logistics of 
        scheduling and accounting. We want an end to all required “reviews” and evaluations of these spaces that threaten their permanency. The SCCs are critical in order to 
        fulfill the university’s commitment to providing education for a diverse community, and often carry the burden of ensuring the recruitment, retention, and graduation rates 
        of people from historically marginalized communities.
●      We demand access to at least one all-gender restroom in every building on campus.
●      We demand that all University buildings be compliant with the American With Disabilities Act (ADA). The current signage on the second floor of Coffman is not compliant 
        with the ADA.
●      We demand that at least one (1) meditation room per UMN Twin Cities campus (i.e., East Bank, West Bank, St. Paul) be made available for students, staff, faculty, and 
        community members of all religious and spiritual beliefs. The room decor and atmosphere should be conducive to meditation and healing. The decor shall be approved 
        by a committee of students, staff, and faculty who embody multiple religious and spiritual beliefs to ensure that these rooms are as respectful and encompassing as 
        possible.


IV. We expect an emphasis be placed on a comprehensive educational experience for all students.
●      We demand a restructuring of the curriculum across the university to include substantially more courses that value, teach and understand the histories, cultures, politics 
        and socioeconomic realities of marginalized peoples.
●      We demand an acknowledgement that the university exists as a product of colonialistic processes.
●      We demand the university require all students to take at least one ethnic studies course offered in one of the three ethnic studies departments, (Chicano and Latino 
        Studies, African and African American Studies, or American Indian Studies), or the Asian American Studies Program.
●      We demand that all students be required to take one course that deals with gender non-conforming issues in the Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies Department or 
        any of the courses endorsed by the GLBTA Programs Office.
●      Since it has been the experience of both undergraduate and graduate students of color that there are not enough faculty of color to serve as our advisors,
        ○      We demand the university expand all underfunded and understaffed ethnic studies departments and program to include a minimum of 8 faculty lines, at least 2 of 
                 which must be senior faculty members. We demand that this process be initiated within the next academic year (FY 2014-2015), and that hires be made in each 
                 successive year until these numbers are achieved.
        ○      We also demand that new hires of faculty of color be made in all departments that currently have one or zero representatives from historically underrepresented 
                 groups.
        ○      We demand that faculty and new hires be paid competitive salaries.
●      We demand that within two years the university will have at least 2 faculty members of color engaging in critical race and ethnic studies scholarship with a social justice 
        emphasis in every department, and that they be paid competitive salaries.
●      We demand that the university give students of historically marginalized backgrounds an opportunity to play a role in the hiring processes of faculty of color.
●      We demand CLA advisors and recruiters with cultural competence in ethnic studies. We also demand departmental advisors in ethnic studies departments who are 
        culturally competent in these areas.
●      We demand for increased exposure to histories of activism initiated by marginalized communities through the creation of an archive of historical documents and 
        photographs, and that this archive be readily available to the public.  Additionally, we demand a display that features these histories be created and located in a centrally 
        located space, such as the second floor of Coffman Memorial Union. There should be transparency about the university and its past dealings with race relations.

V. We expect the acknowledgment and respect of surrounding communities.
●      We demand that the University of Minnesota Police Department eliminate racialized crime alerts.
●      We demand a halt to all projects initiated by the university and a withdrawal of public support for “development” projects that gentrify and displace local communities, 
        such as the luxury apartment developments in the vicinity of the university.  Instead, the university should concern itself with nourishing and restoring relationships with 
        local communities and community intellectuals.
●      Opportunities for multi-directional engagement and education should be welcomed and promoted by the university. The university needs to recognize the wealth of 
        knowledge and culture that exists outside of the walls of this university, and not just see these spaces as spaces for expansion. Moreover, further securitizing campus 
        and displacing local communities will only make these goals more difficult to achieve.