Former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb and other local leaders sent a letter to the Colorado University Board of Regents Thursday asking that they undergo an investigation of the school’s hiring practices, citing a lack of Black representation at the school outside of the athletic department.
“I want to know if the regents [at CU] want to go on record as being the most segregated university under their tenure when the history of Colorado is written,” Webb asked at a press conference. “You cannot have an institution that’s all white and the team all Black; that based upon the visual itself speaks of segregation.”
According to the school’s leadership page, no current cabinet members are Black.
Webb first publicly commented on the lack of diverse leaders at the university during his speech at this year’s Marade on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
“We can do more than dribble and shoot; we can do more than throw passes and catch passes,” he said, referring to the university’s sports programs on Jan. 20. “We also have the ability to think and bring people together.”
A spokesperson for the university told CPR News there are 620 people employed by the university’s system office which encompasses the Chancellors and executive leadership teams across the Boulder, Denver, Anschutz and Colorado Springs campuses. Of them, 25 self-identify as Black. That’s about 4 percent.
But Webb contends there should be more representation at the highest levels of leadership to better reflect the student population.
In September, the school announced that the share of first-year students who identify as Black or African American had increased by 7.9 percent to 260 total students, helping the school reach its highest number of Black students enrolled in the school’s history. Data shows that’s a total of 2.9 percent of the total student population, or just over 1,100 students.
“To have less than two people at the senior vice president level at that university is appalling. I contend the Universities of Alabama, South Carolina, and Mississippi have more Black people on their staff than the University of Colorado—and they’re in the south. It is up to the region chairperson to right the wrongs,” Webb said.
A fact check of this statement proved true. Each school has at least one Black person on their senior leadership team, as does Colorado State University.
“The Regents, the President, and all four Chancellors have clearly said the University of Colorado should reflect the diversity of Colorado in all of its forms, including Black Coloradans,” a CU Spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “While we have made progress on better reflecting the diversity of Colorado, it is clear that much work remains and we remain committed to this work. While we do this, the university remains vigilant in following all state and federal laws that protect against discrimination.”
But Webb says the lack of representation has been an issue at CU for decades. Since the school’s inception in 1876, two Chancellors have been of African American heritage.
Mary Francis Berry served for one year in the 1970s becoming the first woman and the first Black person to head the research university. Roy Wilson also served as Chancellor at both the Denver and Anschutz campuses. He left his role in 2010.
“Other higher education institutions have recognized the disparity,” Webb’s letter to regents reads. “CSU President Amy Parsons continues to value the need for a diverse staff with Dr. Rico Munn previously serving as her chief of staff and now as CSU’s Vice President for Metro Denver Engagement and Strategy. If CSU can do it, why can’t CU?”
At the press conference, Webb said he would also like the legislature to conduct an interim study on the university’s hiring practices.
“If the regents feel they cannot do an investigation of the hiring practices in a professional and ethical way, then I recommend this letter also be sent to the Colorado State Senate President James Coleman and House Speaker Julie McCluskie. They can call a special interim study by the legislature into CU’s hiring practices and release the results to the public,” the letter reads.
“I think what we're interested in is being sure that CU takes the request seriously and they make every effort to figure it out and if they do,” Rep. Jennifer Bacon told CPR News. “The black community, including black students, is watching. And I would encourage them to solve any issues that they have in the most inclusive ways possible.”
