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personal and the university cannot afford to gloss over history and trauma related to race issues. The work had not been done to make sure policies were in place, she said, and now the campus has to deal with the fallout. It will remain in the same place until faculty have the hard conversations.

A motion to extend time for 20 minute passed unanimously.

Dr. Jackson went on to say that the problem will fester if not addressed, and her role is to look at the bigger picture for the institution.

A guest noted that the problem is less about traditional black and white issues, but rather systemic racism where what was once a majority African American faculty at the university is now 15 members, and this should not be the case at an HBCU. He argued the university needs to identify funds that can be used to “brown” the institution.

A different guest added that in order to improve diversity, the university needs to have a hiring process that begins early. There need to be more African American faculty, but the university has to be purposeful about how it attracts them. The best people are gone by April.

Chair Rye noted that search committees have always tried to identify African American candidates, but there is always a problem with paying them at a rate equal to other universities and thus retaining them. She cited consultant Mary Pat Wohlford's recommendation that there needs to be a standing, well-trained, university-wide search committee with overlapping members to do true national searches. The search has to be much more intentional than simply advertising in the Chronicle. Dr. Jackson encouraged faculty to reach to out to promising young scholars of color who faculty may encounter at conferences or other professional situations.

President Sipes began to address the second petition, but since the response covered much the same ground as the previous one, members of FCC asked her to stop. Dr. Jackson asked that it be noted in the Minutes that she had requested for the Senate Executive Committee to delay the confidence vote and “was summarily dismissed.”

President Sipes explained that elections need to take place soon, but there are problems with policy there too, specifically the number of days that must fall between nominations and votes. A motion to set aside the time limits was approved unanimously so the votes could be conducted in the time left in the semester.

A motion to extend time for 10 minutes passed unanimously. President Sipes checked to be sure there was still a quorum. Fourteen members were present.

The distinguished professor award had not been announced as it should have been, and the committee had not been assembled as it should have been at the last selection. President Sipes conferred with Dr. Jackson and Gordon Rowe and they felt it should move forward. A motion to proceed with that process passed unanimously.