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Trustees to vote on Crawford today

<p>President Crawford and other faculty have offered writings and quotes to many media publications. </p>

President Crawford and other faculty have offered writings and quotes to many media publications.

By Emily Tate, Managing Editor and Reis Thebault, Editor-in-Chief

Gregory P. Crawford - who, for all intents and purposes, is Miami University's new president - has been on campus all week, trying to prove himself to faculty, students and staff ahead of today's Board of Trustees vote that will make his hiring official.

The Board announced Crawford as the sole presidential "finalist" last Thursday, Feb. 11. Since Monday, Crawford and his wife, Renate, have attended events and meetings with the university community, including four forums across the Oxford, Hamilton and Middletown campuses.

In the hour allotted for Wednesday's open forum in Oxford, Crawford, who is currently vice president and associate provost at the University of Notre Dame, took 11 questions. Five of those related to issues of diversity at Miami and Crawford's ability to address them. He faced more pushback about diversity than he did on issues at any of the other forums, his responses leaving some in the crowd dissatisfied.

Shevonne Nelson, assistant director in the Office of Diversity Affairs and coordinator of GLBTQ services, attended Wednesday's forum in Wilks Theater and left feeling uneasy about Crawford's qualifications.

"He didn't say anything specific. I don't feel like there was a direct answer about anything," Nelson said. "From a diversity perspective, I am worried."

Nelson said she was disappointed by Crawford's theory-based responses. She had asked him to describe specific examples of how he had promoted diversity and inclusivity in the past.

"With a school with actual problems - we don't have theoretical problems, our problems are real - that doesn't work."

Nelson's question about diversity was the fourth that morning. One student had asked about the homogeneous makeup of the student body, and another staff member asked about the national conversation surrounding race in higher education.

Rodney Coates, director of Black World Studies, said he likes Crawford and supports him. But, Coates said, Crawford is the seventh presidential candidate he's seen who has made promises about the school's diversity.

"Each one had a grand vision for Miami," Coates said. "Unfortunately, diversity has been something that we've done a lot of talk about."

Coates used the University of Chicago, his alma mater, as an example. Chicago "put its money where its mouth is," he said, then rattled off the diversity rates at the university today. (According to University of Chicago's class of 2019 profile, the freshman class is 28 percent Asian, 8.5 percent black or African American, 15 percent Hispanic or Latino and 13 percent international.)

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"We can do better," he told Crawford, emphasizing each word. "How do we?"

The crowd of 300-plus broke into applause when Coates finished speaking. Crawford thanked him for his question before responding.

"It's not about me or I or any single one of us. It's about we. We have to be able to work together in every single one of our units," Crawford said. "You'll have to hold me accountable. I get the sense you're a guy that will, too."

In an interview after the forum, Crawford said he was not considering positions at any other school when he began interviewing at Miami. He also said that, if the search had been public, he would not have participated in the process at Miami.

He did, however, acknowledge that some at the university would be skeptical of a candidate found in such a contentious search.

"I understand the concerns of faculty members that there is only one finalist invited to campus, and what I hope - I can't do much about the process - but what I hope i that with my vision I had some impact on the faculty during my meetings with them," Crawford said.

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