University of Minnesota regent Steve Sviggum announced Tuesday that he was stepping down as vice chairman of the board after his question earlier this month about whether the Morris campus is "too diverse" drew widespread criticism.
Sviggum made the announcement in a letter sent to regents chair Ken Powell.
Sviggum posed the question during a discussion about declining enrollment at the University of Minnesota Morris. He said two friends with children attending Morris had sent him letters because the increased diversity made them uncomfortable.
“Is it possible that at Morris, we've become too diverse? Is that possible, all from a marketing standpoint?” Sviggum asked.
As his question drew more criticism in the following days, Sviggum told WCCO Radio that he saw nothing wrong with posing the question.
"I don't see asking a question is being offensive or wrong, it certainly, certainly not racist," Sviggum told Vineeta Sawkar on the WCCO Morning News.
He would later apologize during an appearance on Henry Lake's 6 p.m. show on WCCO Radio.
"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."
However, that apology was short-lived as Sviggum later told Alpha News, ""If the far left doesn’t ruin it, identity politics will. The woke community, the liberal community, if I may be so bold as to say, has taken [my question] and jumped on it, They say it’s racist and sexist. That’s the community that says, ‘If you don’t think like me and you’re not part of the group, you don’t belong. You’re a bad guy, and we will destroy you."
According to data resources on the Minnesota-Morris website, the student makeup a year ago was 56.3% white, 29.0% Native American, 3.3% Black, 2.3% Asian, and 0.2% Hawaiian.
The enrollment at Minnesota-Morris in the fall of 2021 was 1,286.