Is the U of Minnesota at Morris too diverse for a student to attend? (R) Regent wants to know

[progree]

U-of-M Board of Regents vice-chair asks if ‘too much diversity’ leads to declining enrollment at Morris campus, KSTP, 10/16/22

During a University of Minnesota Board of Regents meeting last Thursday, Board of Regents Vice-Chair, Steve Sviggum, asked the interim-chancellor at the University of Minnesota-Morris if declining enrollment might be connected to “too much diversity” at the campus which is about two-and-a-half hours west of the metro area.

Sviggum asked Morris Interim Chancellor, Janet Schrunk Ericksen, “Is it possible that at Morris we’ve become too diverse? Is that at all possible from a marketing standpoint?”

Sviggum noted that enrollment at Morris had declined by more than 40 percent “over the past decade” and that was why he asked the question.

“I have received a couple letters, two actually, from friends whose children are not going to go to Morris, because it is too diverse of a campus. They just didn’t feel comfortable there,” said Sviggum. “Is it all possible, in the specifics of Morris, that we’ve become too diverse for a student to attend? Again, I am on thin ice. I understand that. At 71 or 72 years old I say things that I would never even thought when I was 52.”

https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/u-of-m-board-of-regents-vice-chair-asks-if-too-much-diversity-leads-to-declining-enrollment-at-morris-campus/

Sviggum(R) is a former Speaker of the Minnesota House
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Sviggum

Too diverse for a student to attend? Apparently he doesn't consider the "diverse" students who are there to be actually students? They are crisis actors? Or they are there just because of woke quotas and are getting a free four years or what is his thinking?

Cross-posted in General Discussion https://www.democraticunderground.com/100217259805

[brush]

1. Thinly veiled racism in that question.

The response should've been are other campuses too white for POCs to be comfortable in?

[GopherGal]

5. Very thinly veiled

I would summarize it as "Is enrollment down because diversity is scaring away the racist students?"

[brush]

6. Even better.

[elleng]

2. Oh, right like the world is too diverse; just drop out.

(I know nothing about this school.)

[JT45242]

3. Apparently, do not need to be qualified to be vice chair

1. There are fewer college age people(18-24) than there were because of changes in birth rates and declining immigration. Consequence, fewer students.
2. The result of the pandemic has been decreased enrollment as students did not want to pay full price for online classes around the country.
3. Higher costs so more students are starting at community colleges to save money. Mainly because states have largely defunded the state university systems to give tax breaks to the rich and businesses.
4. Very low unemployment and higher wages have meant that fewer people in the workforce are returning to college to try to move up or restart their careers.

He has received memos about this, groups like ACT, SAT, NCES, NAEP, NACAC have all published analysis of these trends.(educational researcher here).

He just wanted to display his white supremacist racist bonafide credentials.

[Chainfire]

4. Perhaps the native students have a hard time competing with the minorities.

[dflprincess]

7. From the article the Star Tribune ran on this:

https://www.startribune.com/university-of-minnesota-regents-vice-chair-steve-sviggum-asks-if-morris-campus-is-too-diverse/600216570/

"I've received a couple letters, two actually, from friends whose children are not going to go to Morris because it is too diverse," Sviggum said at the meeting. "They just didn't feel comfortable there."

Not sure where his friends' spawn will find a school that isn't "too diverse" for them.

I'd forgotten about Sviggum, he was an asshole when he was Speaker of the state House of Reps and an asshole now. Hopefully he will not be renamed to the Board of Regents when his term expires next year. (Another reason to vote Blue, the Legislature selects Regents.)

[iemanja]

8. Per the Minnesota Daily

Morris is majority white. 41% of students are BIPOC.

Regent Darrin Rosha said outside of campus, students of color enter a heavily white community.

“From that perspective, I would be quite surprised if a student has a legitimate concern about feeling out of place,” he said.

Rosha said a heavily diverse community should be the place for students to learn not to be uncomfortable with diversity.

“Our relationship with communities of color is something we should be building on,” Rosha said

.

https://mndaily.com/273967/news/sviggum-says-morris-is-too-diverse-union-interruptions-at-board-meeting/

[geardaddy]

9. Sviggum's a creep