(On March 26, The Student Diversity Board sent a letter to Quinnipiac administration regarding the Office of Multicultural Affairs)

To whom it may concern:
As of February 25, 2009, Quinnipiac University is without a Director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs due to the resignation of Tyrone Black. The lack of a Director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs has resulted in work-study students being left to head up the semester’s programming and students feeling left out of the conversation with administration about diversity and multicultural programming and/or initiatives.
While it is true that the responsibilities of the Director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs have been spread amongst university officials in Student Affairs and the programming for the semester continues to go on, students are still missing out. Organizations once overseen by one person are no longer have a central person to communicate with and are subsequently less unified. Not only is there less unity amongst these organizations, but also we must now look forward to a growing rift between the student body and the Upper Administration. Programming, that was once put on directly by the Director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs, to bring students together, such as the Office of Multicultural Affairs Thanksgiving Dinner, A Safe Place, the Diversity Retreat, and A Day of Unity and Prayer will no longer have anyone to see that it takes place.
Moreover, what would happen if another biased incident were to take place in the coming weeks? Who would council students and rally them together?
In addition to the void that has been created, we must consider the message that we are sending to prospective students who will visit Quinnipiac only to learn that, in addition to our unsavory past with biased incidents, we no longer have someone on staff concentrating solely on promoting diversity, inclusion and multiculturalism.
We the students who value the many rewards of diversity and inclusion, as well as multicultural programming, insist that the position of Director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs be filled within the first two weeks of the Fall Semester and that we are included as a necessary part of the selection process.
We seek to be included in the selection process because:
1) Students helped choose the last Director of Multicultural Affairs who was effective in his position.
2) This person would deal primarily with students and, as such, students should be involved in the hiring process.
In closing, we must impart that at Quinnipiac we claim to “Live the Legend.” What kind of legend are we living if, as a University, we consistently identify with positive and forward thinking values, only to fail to support them when an obstacle presents itself.

Sincerely,

Meghan W. Trull President, Student Diversity Board
Paden Livingston Vice-President
Student Diversity Board