University of Redlands President Krista Newkirk and various department representatives shared what’s been done and what’s to come during the Town Hall meeting on Sept. 25.
Individuals spoke about a vast range of topics, including facility and technology upgrades, diversity and equity initiatives, civic engagement activities, the Woodbury University partnership and Title IX policy revisions. All this was covered in just one hour, in the Casa Loma Room.
A general overview of the University’s rankings and statistics kickstarted the meeting, from which Newkrik highlighted first-generation students and diversity.
“One of the things we’re really proud of is our percent of students who are first-generation college students,” Newkirk said. “It’s really wonderful to see that we’re helping in that way and able to provide the support that those students need.”
Newkirk also emphasized the university’s focus on diversity. In fact, Diversity in Action Resident Marcela Cuellar will be presenting a keynote speech on Oct. 3. This event will take place at 7 p.m. in the Chapel and is open to the public.
Something else the university takes pride in is being scooter-friendly. However, issues regarding their use and safety were brought up. Specifically, Newkirk advised that students practice caution with theft by locking them up properly. She also pointed out the safety issues with leaving scooters charging unattended or in busy areas like hallways and Hunsaker Plaza.
“Hunsaker Plaza is actually a wheel-free zone,” Chris Jennings, the Vice President for Institutional Integrity and Strategy and General Council, said. “We have had incidents because it’s such a crowded place.”
On the topic of traversing campus, one of the attendees inquired about accessibility.
“We’ve made some improvements to accessibility,” Newkirk said. “We know that there are a lot more that need to be done and that’s part of the challenge of having a historical campus. But we have improved accessibility in certain classroom buildings, like Larson and the Hall of Letters.”
Newkirk also said there will be an Accessibility Walk to determine areas that are an impediment and need to become a priority. Justin Rose, the Dean of College of Arts & Science, pointed out progress made in regards to accessibility by mentioning the existing resources in classrooms, such as interpreters and audio-visual technology.
Sandy Vasquez, the Interim Vice President of Student Affairs, talked about important matters affecting students. She announced the election of the 2024-25 Student Government Leaders who will be hosting their first Town Hall on Thursday, Oct. 3 at noon in Hunsaker Plaza. During this time, students will have the opportunity to meet the newly elected members and stay informed about university happenings.
With an even larger election looming on the horizon, Vasquez explained the Bulldog Civic Engagement program. Consisting of nearly 20 academic, staff and student members, this group will cover various aspects of our rights and responsibilities as members of our community.
“Really, the goal here is not only to help with voter education and registration but also dialogue across differences,” Vasquez said.
Expanding on this topic, Jennings identified the campus’ five free expression zones where students can hold demonstrations, such as peaceful protests: the Administration Building front steps, Hunsaker Plaza, Greek Theater, Memorial Chapel as well as the Quad and its adjacent sidewalks.
“Free expression, dialogue, the opportunity to share differing perspectives – to listen, to hear, to learn – is a value of the institution,” Jennings said. “We encourage dialogue and debate and understanding.”
Along with equipping students to become civic leaders, the University strives to maintain a high retention rate. Rose explained this measures the amount of freshmen who return for their sophomore year. They are 2% away from their goal of 86%, which is a 2% increase from the previous year. Rose claimed summer outreach and interaction, First Year Journeys and the first 6-8 weeks play a major role in this. Bulldog Beginnings specifically targets this latter category by building community and helping students connect to resources through events like the Campus Day of Service, Maroon Fridays, Beach Bash, 1st Annual Student Employment Fair, Administration Building Open House and Student Involvement Fair.
“We had a wonderful Campus Day of Service, where we had students come together and make 15,000 meals that will provide food for 70 children in the Philippines for an entire year,” Vasquez said. “We also built a house that went to a family in Mexico.”
To bring the Town Hall to a close, Newkirk highlighted several upcoming events:
- Oct. 5 Rah Rah Redlands Football Game
- Oct. 7 Community Peace Walk for Global Humanity
- Oct. 9 Latin America Poetry Night
- Oct. 15 Wind Ensemble Concert
Newkirk also encouraged folks to tune into the College Tour Series in October, as Redlands will be featured in Season 12. All of these events can be found on the Redlands website under the events calendar. Weekly Bulldog Beginnings emails and the Student Affairs Instagram Page are other resources to stay up to date.
For those wanting to watch the recorded town hall, it is available on the MyRedlands page at https://uredlands.sharepoint.com/sites/myredlands/SitePages/Student-Town-Hall.aspx.
McKenzie Rose is a freshman at Redlands with interests in Environmental Studies and Journalism. She worked for the last three years as a freelance journalist with the Hermiston Herald, a newspaper near her hometown of Echo, Oregon. She is looking forward to covering the interesting, the exciting, and the intriguing happenings at the university for the Redlands Bulldog!
