In Sun articles and columns, in recent protests and in meetings with senior administrators, a number of students have raised concerns about Cornell’s commitment to, and support for, diversity programs focused on our under-represented minority (URM) undergraduates.

We want to reassure all members of our community that a commitment to diversity goals and initiatives remains fundamental to Cornell’s mission. However, it is also important to acknowledge that, even as we pursue our goals, necessary budget cuts across campus have affected and will affect many programs. The impacts have not, and will not, disproportionately impact programs focusing on URM students.

We believe that some points that have been raised by students and reported in the media need to be placed in a broader context, or corrected, as we move forward. There also are areas with which we agree with the students that greater attention is needed.

Administrators focused on diversity issues:

Provost Fuchs has reassigned duties previously assigned to the vice provost for equity and inclusion and the proposed chief diversity officer. No work has been lost in the past six months, and no programs have ended. Lynette Chappell-Williams’ work as the new associate vice president for workforce diversity and inclusion, and the University’s support for CU-ADVANCE, are providing additional support for staff and faculty diversity efforts. The University Diversity Council (UDC) Executive Committee, which is chaired by President Skorton and Provost Fuchs, is active and has met twice this semester. The UDC Working Group will hold its first meeting in early November.

OMEA funding and staffing:

It is true that the State Programs Office of the Office of Minority Educational Affairs (OMEA) is understaffed in counselors, in part because of a recent resignation — but OMEA has been in frequent contact with the New York State Education Department, and there is no imminent threat of losing state funding. In fact, the OMEA director has quickly and aggressively implemented a plan that, thanks to the cooperation of our colleges, Student and Academic Services and the Financial Aid Office, will enable us to meet our counseling needs in the current semester. In the past two weeks, we have identified resources that will allow us to hire additional counselors for next semester. OMEA is one of the few campus units that did not receive a budget cut last spring.

Asian-American community support:

Assistant Dean for New Student Programs Patricia Nguyen is not the only person with a critical focus on serving members of our Asian-American community. Her work is being supported by the full staff of the offices of the Dean of Students, OMEA and other campus units. We did postpone opening the interim facility at 14 South Ave. because of both short-term budget concerns and wanting to give Assistant Dean Nguyen time to work directly with students and to make her own assessment of need. While programming funds throughout campus remain limited, because of budget realities, we will be providing the funding necessary to launch the new Asian and Asian-American Community Center.

Ujamaa residential housing director:

Ken Glover has not been fired as Ujamaa residential housing director — he was assigned this summer to a new set of responsibilities within Campus Life. Because his transition was seen as being abrupt, he will remain at Ujamaa for this academic year, allowing time for a smoother transition for him, and for Campus Life to assemble a committee to conduct a national search for the Ujamaa position.

Diversity Hosting Weekend:

Contrary to media reports, Diversity Hosting Weekend has not been cancelled. Rather, it has been expanded into a month-long series of campus recruitment activities and will now be offered to a much larger number of admitted URM students. We made these changes after consulting with students and reviewing data about what has been most successful in recruiting URM students to Cornell.

Other diversity news:

Last year President Skorton and the Board of Trustees agreed to withdraw an additional $35 million per year from the endowment for the next five years to support a significant expansion in financial aid. This expansion in access benefits less affluent students from all racial and ethnic groups, but because, on average, URM students are less affluent than other Cornell students, this expansion in financial aid also helps with our racial and ethnic diversity efforts.

Thanks to the new financial aid initiatives and the actions of admissions and recruitment staff across campus, this year’s freshman class includes the largest number of URM students in Cornell’s history, and its quality is comparable to that of other recent classes.

The Africana Studies and Research Center celebrates its 40th anniversary this year with a recently renovated and expanded building, and five outstanding recent faculty hires. The celebration begins Friday with a provocative conference, sponsored by the provost.

We recently completed the second annual Faculty Diversity Institute, an effort to infuse courses across campus with diverse perspectives and experiences.

We encourage anyone who has concerns about Cornell’s commitment to diversity goals and actions to check our web site (www.cornell.edu/diversity) and to engage us in constructive dialogue. Monday evening’s forum on program houses, co-sponsored by The Sun and Students to Unite Cornell, was an excellent example of the kind of constructive dialogue that we believe is required for the Cornell community to reach our shared diversity goals.

We close with a simple message: Cornell will not achieve its diversity goals unless administrators, students, faculty, staff and alumni find ways to work together, while acknowledging that change is both necessary and difficult. Failing to achieve our composition, inclusion, engagement and achievement diversity goals is not an option.

Susan Murphy ’73 is the vice president for student and academic services. She may be reached at shm1@cornell.edu. David Harris is the deputy provost of Cornell University. He may be reached at drh36@cornell.edu. Guest Room appears periodically.