Student creates SDOD petition

Junior DeAngelo Rankin has created a petition which is requesting three things. The first of which is the reinstatement of the Student Director of Diversity (SDOD) position - which was not appointed at the start of the SGA's tenure last April. The second is the extension of the Office of Multicultural Affairs' (OMA) office hours and the thirs is to grant unrestricted access to OMA to those student organizations affiliated with it.
The petition, called "Reinstated and Unrestricted," has recorded 650 signatures thus far. Rankin hopes that with more signatures, the petition will be considered by SGA and that they fulfill his requests. "I have spoken with Father Graham, who referred me to Dave Johnson [Associate Provost, student affairs]," Rankin said. "I also spoke with Seth Walsh [SGA
President] and they expressed support in the issues." Rankin also believes that the decision to discontinue the SDOD position is a violation of the Xavier University's Bill of Rights and that "SGA has demonstrated a blatant disregard to diversity events and initiatives." Walsh, however, suggested that
the position had been removed on the premise that it was surplus to requirements and he refuted the argument that SGA is turning its back on campus diversity after a budget cut from $8,000 to $3,000 since last year. "The rationale on this decision [to not appoint the SDOD position] was that the position has not been effective over the last several years and as such should not continue it in its current state," Walsh said. "Last year, we funded $8,000 in the diversity fund, yet spent
$1,600 of it... SGA can no longer 'claim' that we are funding diversity to the same extent and must actually commit to addressing diverse issues."