MORRIS, Minn. — A University of Minnesota Regent is apologizing after asking if the university system’s second-smallest satellite campus has become “too diverse.”
The comments by Steve Sviggum came during an Oct. 13 meeting of the U of M Mission Fulfillment committee, following a presentation from Janet Ericksen, chancellor of the university’s Morris campus, in which data was shared regarding Morris’ growth.
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While discussing enrollment figures for the Morris campus, Ericksen admitted it was unlikely Morris would achieve a goal of 1,700 enrolled students by 2025. Sviggum, discussing the university’s marketing efforts, asked Ericksen if it’s possible that the diversity of the Morris campus might be contributing to a multi-year decline in enrollment.
“When we look at Morris in specific … as a campus, and as an institution of the university, we need to promote [Diversity, Equity and Inclusion] and diversity,” Sviggum said. “Is it possible that at Morris we’ve become too diverse? Is that possible from a marketing standpoint?”
Before Ericksen could answer Sviggum elaborated that the question was driven by one phone call and one letter he’d received from parents of prospective students who decided not to attend the Morris campus due to diversity, adding that the prospective students said they wouldn’t be comfortable.
“I had a meeting this week with students who are members of the Black Student Union on our campus. I think they'd be shocked to think that anyone would think our campus is too diverse,” Ericksen responded. “They certainly at times feel very isolated where they’re located, so from that perspective, the answer is no.”
Ericksen noted that a variety of perspectives is core to the university’s liberal arts education, and the inclusion of different perspectives is of high value to the campus. However, she said it’s possible the idea of too much diversity may have stemmed from an increase in divisiveness and not from an actual experience.
“That it would not feel comfortable because it’s too diverse would surprise me,” Ericksen said. “I might speak to the increasing polarization and politicization as well as a factor in that perception, rather than the actual on the ground experience.”
Sviggum explained to Ericksen that he knew he was on “thin ice” before asking the question, but felt he had “the freedom” to ask.
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“I’m on thin ice, I understand that. At 72 years old, I say things I wouldn't even have thought when I was 52,” Sviggum said. “...Thin ice, but I needed to say it, and I have the freedom to be able to do so.”
According to fall 2021 enrollment data provided by the University of Minnesota, 56% of the Morris campus' 1,286 students are white, while 37.6% of students are Asian, Black, Hispanic or Native American.
One by one, regents reacted publicly
Immediately following Sviggum’s conversation with Ericksen, the floor was turned over to Regent Darrin Rosha, who has served multiple nonconsecutive terms on the Board. Before Rosha moved to his discussion points, he addressed Sviggum’s comments.
“Before I go to my intended remarks, I just want to touch on the last dialogue,” Rosha said. “From a student perspective, particularly someone that comes from any community of color, at Morris, where you do have a … growing strength in diversity in the number of students of color, the minute you step off campus, you’re back into a very heavily white community. I think from that standpoint, I’d be quite surprised that a student would have a legitimate concern about feeling out of place.”
Rosha said that even if a concern was real, he believed the diversity of the Morris campus would offer an educational opportunity for a student to “understand that that shouldn’t matter.”
“I’m concerned for the people who are raising that issue,” Rosha added. “While I think the Morris campus student body reflects a greater diversity than if you look at the state as a whole, if you look at the graduating classes of high school students, particularly in the metropolitan area, it may actually be below the diversity of the students coming out of the largest schools.”
Rosha called higher diversity rates in colleges “the future of enrollment,” noting that students should see diverse universities as an opportunity as opposed to a point of concern.
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No other regents immediately addressed Sviggum’s comments.
Four days later, on Oct. 17, Board of Regents Chair Kendall Powell issued a statement noting that Erickson’s response “strongly resonated” with him and commented on the idea that the university supports diversification efforts.
Later that day, Regent James Farnsworth, of St. Paul, posted a thread on Twitter calling the diversity of the Morris campus an “unquestionable strength.”
“I was sitting two chairs away from Regent Sviggum during Thursday's committee meeting and heard his comments in real time. I found them to be hurtful and inappropriate,” Farnsworth said.
But he felt that Powell’s statement didn’t appropriately address the issue at hand.
“I feel the statement that tweeted from our board chair missed the mark. Chair Powell highlighted the board's support of the DEI efforts of the current administration,” Farnsworth said. “We should first ensure we're leading by example.”
In a WCCO radio interview four days after Sviggum’s remarks, he doubled down, saying he believes he asked a fair question.
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“I don't see asking a question as being offensive or wrong, and certainly, certainly not racist,” Sviggum said.
The next day, he issued a letter of apology.
“Last week … I posed a question regarding the diversity of the student body and whether that diversity was — in any way — linked to the recent enrollment challenges,” his statement reads. “Let me unequivocally apologize for my questions, and especially for the unintended hurt my questions may have caused. They were not intended to cause harm, but my intent does not matter. For those whom I have harmed or offended, and for all of those associated with our great university, I am truly sorry.”
Sviggum added that his intent was to “foster discussion” regarding the enrollment decline at the Morris campus, though that he later recognized that his words matter.
On Oct. 20, Regent Mike Kenyanya, who was elected to a student at-large seat while still attending the University of Minnesota Duluth in 2019, issued a statement on Twitter, calling Sviggum’s question an endorsement of over-diversity.
“In subsequent interviews, Regent Sviggum has said it was just a question and that all questions should be welcome. The problem with asking if Morris is "too diverse" is that it means you think the answer could be yes,” Kenyanya said. “Even if those questions originated with others, bringing them to that forum is an endorsement.”
Though Teamsters Local 320, a union of University of Minnesota employees, has called on Sviggum to resign, Kenyanya noted that the Board of Regents has no control over Sviggum’s status as a regent, but implied they could strip him of his title as vice-chair.
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The Minnesota Legislature elects members to the Board of Regents for six-year terms.
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