Campus community members protested at President Haynes’ open forum about diversity to challenge structural and leadership shifts to the Office of Diversity, in addition to presenting a list of demands to campus administrators.

The Open Dialogue on Educational Equity & Inclusion forum, which took place from 2 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 10 at The Clarke Grand Salon, was preceded by a protest circle. Members of various student organizations, campus departments and offices formed two lines prior to walking into The Clarke. Led by student activists Karen GuzmXn and Selena Arellano, the approximate seventy protesters hoisted signs with an image of Arturo Ocampo, former Associate Vice President for the Office of Diversity, Educational Equity, Inclusion and Ombuds Services. Protesters shouted chants such as “We are fighting for justice, we are fighting for Arturo!” and “Ain’t no power like the power of the people ‘cause the power of the people don’t stop.”

After proceeding into The Clarke, protesters filled the seats and lined the walls of the Grand Salon to voice their opinions on Ocampo’s departure from the university and question what this means for the future of diversity at CSUSM. Attendees were asked to write their questions on notecards to submit for the potential of being answered during the forum.

President Haynes sat within the forum circle and responded to questions about if the university is truly committed to diversity.

“We are always looking at best practices and how to improve what we do,” she said. “… When I came to CSUSM, I said we would raise the educational retainment rate of this entire region and bring more underrepresented and diverse students to this campus than we have before. [I also said] that we would become a Hispanic Serving Institution. We did all of those things.”

During the forum, Arellano and fellow M.E.Ch.A. member, Alejandra Rosas, stood before the forum and read a letter on behalf of the United Students of Color Coalition, which listed their demands for President Haynes. These demands included increased funding for Ethnic Studies and Women’s Studies departments, the reinstatement of Arturo Ocampo, renaming campus community centers as Social Justice Centers, the opening of a black student center on campus in fall 2016, gender neutral bathrooms in all buildings and Associated Students Inc. “establishing true autonomy and no longer reporting to Student Affairs.”

“CSUSM students call upon the administration to take action,” Arellano said.

The United Students of Color Coalition letter also addressed Haynes directly.

“We demand the resignation of President Karen Haynes if student demands are not addressed and if it is made clear that President Haynes is not able to support and acknowledge student concerns regarding diversity, as seen over the course of the last week. If the president is incapable of addressing concerns of diversity now, it is appropriate to ask for her resignation,” Rosas said.

Other students spoke out at the forum and expressed frustration with the answers that were provided, including student Julius Bautista.

“We are hungry for diversity. We want to be successful. We are hungry to become a community that empowers individuals and organizations on campus,” he said.

President Haynes responded to student comments by saying that she would read through the list of demands and work with various departments to champion diversity work.

“Diversity has to be embraced across this campus by all populations: students, faculty and administrators,” she said. “… There is always diversity work to be done. There is always more to do. There’s always places where it can be done better.”

Campus community members who would like to submit additional questions or concerns about diversity at CSUSM can email [email protected].