Recently the news has been brimming with stories of racism and how it has affected companies, schools, and individuals. It has been a persistent concern for a long time, and Fort Hays State University, like many other universities, has not been completely exempt from this issue.
In the spring semester of 2015 Fort Hays State University’s Student Government Association observed some inappropriate behaviors, especially on social media websites, related to diversity and cultural incompetence, so they decided to take a stand. They held a public forum where many people brought up excellent points on how to alleviate those poor behaviors on campus. Consequently, they created what is now the Diversity Affairs Cultural Competency Task Force, to help decrease those events in the future.
Campus Relations Director, Rebecca Vincent, discussed how currently, the task force mainly consists of FHSU faculty and staff, however, they would like to see more students sit on the task force so that they can genuinely connect to the student population.
Vincent says that the task force is there to “be proactive in programming and help teach cultural competency. To show that your culture, ethnicity, background, race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation, do not define who you are as a person, it’s your actions that define you.”
The Cultural Competency Task Force meets at 5:30 on Thursdays in the Center for Student Involvement office in the Memorial Union. Meetings are open to anyone who would like to join. They would like to remind everyone that their meetings are a safe environment where sensitive issues can be discussed openly.