Posted by:
elderolddog
(
)
Date: February 26, 2021 09:45PM
Here is the summation of "The Problem" from the committee's report:
"We heard from students who are leaders and members of the Black Student Union, the Tribe of Many Feathers, and Hispanos Unidos who report profoundly painful experiences rooted in racially prejudicial (or ignorant) attitudes among community members at BYU. BIPOC students have identified the lack of diversity in the BYU student body, and the resulting lack of sensitivity and skill of too many students, as being a primary cause of their challenges and isolation."
[I'm troubled by the (or ignorant) in that paragraph...]
There is 'Reasoning' presented that if there were more BIPOC students (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) on campus, things would be better; each BIPOC student would be see and feel 'family' around him/her, and thus lose the sense of isolation. You know, less chance of a Black kid being the only Black person in a Book of Mormon class.
Here is a list of 21 recommendations by the committee to the BYU administration:
RECOMMENDATION 1. Create a central Office of Diversity and Belonging at the university charged with strategic planning and implementation of initiatives to assist students and employees with issues related to race, equity, and belonging.
RECOMMENDATION 2. Create a new position of vice president for diversity and belonging who reports directly to the president, is a member of the President’s Council, and who oversees the Office of Diversity and Belonging.
RECOMMENDATION 3. Implement clear lines of accountability to empower the Office of Diversity and Belonging to coordinate, focus, and leverage the efforts of Multicultural Student Services, International Student and Scholar Services, and the Office of Student Success and Inclusion. These offices might efficiently report to the Office of Diversity and Belonging which will allow for focused efforts to serve BIPOC students academically and to enhance their sense of well-being and belonging.
RECOMMENDATION 4. Develop and implement extensive diversity and inclusion training programs and resources for faculty, staff, and administrators. This training would be facilitated by the Office of Diversity and Belonging.
RECOMMENDATION 5. Commit to changes to general education, religion, and elective courses that educate students on race, unity, and diversity.
RECOMMENDATION 6. Consider additions to the Aims of a BYU Education that reflect current statements from prophets and apostles about the need to demonstrate civility, racial and ethnic harmony, and mutual respect. Promote current language in BYU’s mission statement that calls for “loving, genuine concern for the welfare of our neighbor” and for a broad education that helps students “understand important ideas in their own cultural tradition as well as that of others.”
RECOMMENDATION 7. Promote and implement the Fostering an Enriched Environment Policy throughout the university.
RECOMMENDATION 8. Encourage colleges and departments to adopt statements on race, equity, and belonging that can be used in college and department operations and communications.
RECOMMENDATION 9. Establish a standing university committee dedicated to advancing racial understanding, enhancing equity, and promoting belonging for BIPOC communities at BYU. In order to more expeditiously accomplish this recommendation, a proposed charter is included in Appendix B.
RECOMMENDATION 10. Establish a new position of vice president or associate vice president of enrollment management and student success that is empowered to create strategic initiatives for recruitment, admission, scholarship, financial aid, retention, and student success for all students and that is particularly charged with leading initiatives associated with attracting, admitting, retaining, and supporting the academic success of BIPOC students.
RECOMMENDATION 11. Form a Recruitment, Admissions, and Student Success Committee with a charge to assist the vice president or associate vice president of enrollment management and student success to optimize attracting, admitting, retaining, and supporting the academic success of BIPOC and other students. This committee should be composed of faculty members and university administrators committed to fostering an enriched environment.
RECOMMENDATION 12. Develop a strategic plan to increase graduation rates for BIPOC students. This plan should include collaboration between services and offices that are intended to assist BIPOC students to succeed academically.
RECOMMENDATION 13. Design and implement a race-conscious recruitment strategy to attract more BIPOC student applicants to BYU
RECOMMENDATION 14. Perform an independent validation study on all current admissions policies, particularly the weighting systems, to evaluate whether they have a disparate impact on BIPOC applicants. Ensure that the admissions process is holistic in its application and reflects the values promoted in BYU’s Fostering an Enriched Environment Policy.
RECOMMENDATION 15. Invite the Office of the General Counsel to evaluate the legal parameters of a race-conscious admissions model for BYU, in the interest of pursuing an enriched environment for the student body.
RECOMMENDATION 16. Select prestigious scholarship recipients with greater emphasis on a holistic review of the entire applicant file, with criteria to include commitment to excellence, leadership potential, socioeconomic profile, adverse life circumstances, etc. We recommend a scrutiny of policies for determining scholarship criteria and their impact on BIPOC applicants.
RECOMMENDATION 17. Create Enriched Environment Scholarships honoring early BIPOC members of the Church, such as Jane Manning James, Elijah Abel, and others, to be made available to students who have demonstrated a commitment to the values contained in the Fostering an Enriched Environment Policy.
RECOMMENDATION 18. Create socioeconomic disadvantage scholarships, in addition to existing need-based scholarships, for students who demonstrate that they come from socioeconomically disadvantaged circumstances, who have faced adversities attendant to such circumstances, and who demonstrate the need for financial support in order to obtain a BYU education.
RECOMMENDATION 19. Create a process that allows students to report instances of racial discrimination on campus. Through this process, such claims would be investigated and redressed, as appropriate.
RECOMMENDATION 20. Establish a dedicated, visible space on campus for underrepresented students and those who serve this population; such a space will foster community and promote belonging.
RECOMMENDATION 21. Take steps to ensure that the BYU Honor Code and Dress and Grooming Standards are applied with cultural competence and sensitivity.
Anyone who has worked in an environment where success, or acknowledged competency is tied to the ability to generate bullshit disguised as 'progress reports' or 'initiative generation' will have recognized that this BYU report is just such a product.
But they are working under the very weighty strain of probably the main handicap the church has. While it might not serve to bring the church to its knees, I think it will be the wedge that continues to separate the church from mainstream relevance.
And hats, caps, and brassieres off to The Cat, cuz he hit the nail on the head: Brigham Young, the man, and the honoree, is the problem, and the reluctance of the prophet(s) to throw him under the bus is the problem.
Along with the fact that the church DEMANDS what all mormon students at the Y be 'active', with yearly endorsement by a bishop to 'prove' the activity...
So the basic problem is that the church does not have enough BIPOC members who are having kids sufficiently advantaged to get the basic education needed to be admitted, under the current admissions criteria. And this problem is not likely to change at all in the near, middle, or far future.
And then there's the racism baked into the foundation and early growth (and success?) of the church...
Ignoring it doesn't make it go away.
Nephites = White and delightsome, the going to the CK chosen ones, who make up 99.9% of the occupants of the COB and the leadership positions of the church from the 70s on up.
Lamanites = Me. 'Nuff said... Even when I was faithful, that faith wasn't enough to bleed off the brown ... 2nd Class, but hey, the grass won't cut itself nor the dishes get from the table to the kitchen sink on their own...
Blacks = "The Losers" in mormonism's grand (and embarrassing) scheme of things. All the explanations, and the judgments, are clearly written, and widely available. The church just can't get intelligent 'no-ax-to-grind' people to accept that (like polygamy) it wasn't the pressure brought to bear on the church that caused ghawd to 'recant' from either commandment.
They were both just coincidences... Willford Woodruff got a burning in his bosom that calling an end to "The New and Everlasting Covenant" was appropriate, and Spencer Woosie Kimball got the same burning in his bosom about needing to call an end to segregation, cuz it was 'time'.
In its youth, mormonism bathed itself in racism and racist doctrine, and grew rich and strong. This carried on into the 1960s & 1970s when focusing on Whites was good for the church. The missionaries were taught, "look, if a Black person wants to join... well, let'em, but don't go encouraging them!"
And then it all caught up to them...
And they said, "Oh, it's over! All over! We just got the word! Blacks could ALWAYS join! Yeah!! And now they can have the priesthood! Yeah! See? So, no harm, no foul! See? Come on, <gulp!> you can even date our daughters...
It was like Nazi Germany after the war, "We were just following orders!" They did their best to waltz around the Black issue, they did the do-si-do, they clapped to the music, they put their right foot in, they took their right foot out ...
But they refused to say that ghawd made a boo-boo. Because then they will have admitted that a prophet's declaration can't be trusted.
Prophetic inerrancy is the expected level of performance. And while it's easy to see that the two big cheese prophets regarding the establishment of the church are the crazy-ass poster boys for 'prophetic errancy', the church cannot admit it!! Or they go the way of the CoC doo-doo.
Yea! internet for not letting it go away!
So the futility of these efforts by my alma mater, Brigham Young Racist Pig University, is vividly apparent to anyone without a dog in this hunt.
But yes, while the number of faithful BIPOC mormons attending the school will always be a tiny fraction of the student body, it is theoretically possible that da White Folk can be Woke, and that everyone in that 30,000 student echo chamber will live happily ever after.
But that 'wokefullness' has to start in the home/home ward, and it is not something that will be affected by any honky, jive-ass committee of sell-out BIPOC mormons under the thumb of White ruling-class prophets.
That's how I see it.