Chattin’ with the Chancellor
Esther Esth Es ther er Choo Cho C hoo o • The The Daily Dail Da ily y Be Beac Beacon acon on
Cheek Speak provides students answers to campus questions Noah King
Heidi Hill
Contributor
Assistant News Editor
Students flooded room 201 of the Haslam Business Building Tuesday night to hear Chancellor Jimmy Cheek’s annual Cheek Speak Town Hall. As students filed into the room, Cheek began the session with a round of handshaking and inquiring students about their studies and chosen majors. On diversity and inclusion initiatives: Questions regarding diversity and inclusive practice dominated the Q&A session, prompting Cheek to emphasize recent strides made by UT faculty and staff to accomplish those goals and increase funding for diversity initiatives. He also cited the addition of Rickey Hall as Vice Chancellor of Diversity and the recent construction of a modernized Student Union as evidence of the university’s success in these areas. Hall, who was formerly employed at the University of Minnesota, retains six years of experience as the university’s assistant vice president for the school’s equity and diversity division. “You have to be excited about the things you actually see happen, (and) I think you can see our vision with the student union,” Cheek said. Cheek and Dean of Students Melissa Shivers discussed the university’s Stop Bias initiative as an integral part of maintaining an inclusive environment on campus for students and faculty alike. “Our primary concern is making sure that the affected student staff or faculty member has received the type of
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support that they need in order to continue to be involved and connected at the University of Tennessee,” Shivers said. “Usually within 14 to 24 hours the reporting individual has received an email from a member of our staff to meet. We are very timely with our response.” See CHEEK on Page 4
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Wednesday, November 11 2015