SIU offers plan to boost campus diversity after protests

In a letter to students, faculty and staff members, interim Chancellor Brad Colwell outlined broad goals, but many of the specifics appeared to fall short of the demands voiced by protesters one week before final exams.

The Carbondale march was conceived as a one-day strike to call attention to mounting student debt and the state budget stalemate's impact on public higher education in Illinois.

Among the demands sought by Chamberlain and other protests was mandatory diversity training for first-year students, similar to required classes on preventing sexual assault.

The interim chancellor also pledged changes to the employee hiring process such as mandatory training for search committee members "to ensure that they are aware of their responsibilities for seeking and hiring qualified candidates from a range of backgrounds."