The university has now released its fourth report on diversity and campus climate. The Rankin Report was conducted on behalf of student government. I'd say from first reading they got a better deal than the administration did from Mr. Nichols. Unlike that report's call for wholesale changes in the university, Rankin reports what she finds in the data with a more even hand and doesn't make recommendations for what to do next ... except for an insert of "transformational tapestry model" for improving diversity, something which she has published about. How her findings lead to the efficacy of this model to SCSU I cannot say.

The four reports now go to an "independent review committee" which has already established some funny rules.

We operate cooperatively with no chair or contact person ... We rotate facilitators and note-takers and make decisions with a �consensus minus one� policy. In other words, if 0 or 1 people disagree with the proposed action, we have consensus and if 2 or more disagree, we do not have consensus. Consensus is not achieved if the single dissenting voice is the only member of her/his protected class in attendance at the meeting.

I could be mistaken, but I think this means white heterosexual males get half a veto while "protected class" members get a whole one. This does not inspire confidence in what the committee will put forward by month's end as its "consensus".