A group of more than two dozen student leaders at the University of Minnesota called on Regent Steve Sviggum to resign Wednesday following his controversial comments in October and subsequent apology that the students called “meaningless.”
Sviggum has faced backlash since he questioned whether declining enrollment on the University’s Morris campus was because the school had become “too diverse.”
“While we acknowledge your public apology, what students have shared about your visit to the Morris campus last month make it clear that your apology was meaningless,” the student leaders wrote in a letter to Sviggum. “We do not believe that your reported behavior when interacting with Morris students from marginalized communities is consistent with someone who truly believes that diversity is a strength.”
The leaders said Sviggum’s continued presence on the board “will signal a hostile attitude toward diversity and deter prospective students from choosing one of the five University of Minnesota campuses.”
Sviggum did not respond to a request for comment.
The letter came less than 24 hours before the Board of Regents is scheduled for a two-day meeting. On Friday, the board is set to elect a new vice chair, the leadership role Sviggum previously served in but stepped down following his comments.
Dylan Young, president of the Morris Campus Student Association, said Sviggum didn’t go far enough in relinquishing his leadership role and should have resigned from the Board of Regents altogether.
“I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt,” Young told WCCO Radio in an interview Wednesday. “I was willing to believe that he truly wanted to foster a greater commitment to equity and diversity than he has previously held, and I was hoping he would use the remainder of his term to really demonstrate how someone could do that, but after meeting with him I don’t believe that’s his intention.”
Young and a group of students of marginalized communities met with Sviggum on-campus in November. Looking for a direct apology, Young never got one. Instead Sviggum acted “bitter” and “defensive” and told the students he had a fiduciary duty to the university and needed to ask tough questions, Young said.
“It became clear to me that his apology where he stated that he would work to foster equity and diversity was not true,” he said. “So, I really had to grapple with the fact that there is a man that holds racist ideals sitting on the Board of Regents and something should be done about that.”
That led Young to spearhead the creation of the formal letter that leaders from across the University of Minnesota’s network of campuses signed on to. He spent the last month discussing the possibility with the Morris student body, which he said resoundingly supported calling for Sviggum’s resignation. Young said Sviggum has not reached out to student leaders since the face-to-face meeting in November.
Young called on the other Board of Regents members to take measures to remove Sviggum and expressed "disappointment" that they haven't been proactive.
Sviggum’s term on the Board of Regents ends next year. He did not apply to serve again.