Chancellor Victor Boschini answered questions about issues concerning campus diversity at the annual Chancellor’s Student Town Hall meeting last week.

The meeting took place Thursday afternoon in the King Family Commons. 

In spite of a historical record of poor turnout, the meeting has been held for the past six years. Boschini answers questions from both students and faculty in a open forum setting about a wide variety of topics.

Multiple topics were discussed with diversity being a pressing concern.

Early on, Boschini announced the cabinet-level diversity position had been filled.

The diversity position, to which Dr. Darron Turner was appointed this week, was created in response to the student protesters’ list of demands, a list calling for multiple changes to be made with aims of creating a more inclusive campus.   

Additionally, Boschini said TCU will continue the same student recruiting strategies.

The TCU class of 2020 is the most diverse class ever at TCU.

“We might not be where we want it to be, but we can never stop working towards it,” Boschini said.

TCU is also trying to recruit faculty of color.

Boschini said he cannot force a minority presence, but he can attract minority applicants to try and create a more diverse candidate pool.

“My favorite emphasis is maintaining the people we recruit to,” he said. “I think it’s almost unfair to bring someone to an environment where they don’t feel like they’re welcomed.”

As far as diversity initiatives, the Community Scholars program will continue to expand.

To create effective diversity initiatives, Boschini said he compares programs that have been implemented by schools in the Big 12 collegiate athletic conference as well as at other private universities.

Boschini said he has read through posts regarding #BeingMinorityatTCU and described what he saw as “gut-wrenching.”

“I think I went through all of them as of this morning,” he said. “That’s not my experience here, and it makes me sad that any [student] would say that because it’s their experience. I want to make sure that no kid or adult would ever say that, but it shows that we have work to do.”