OSHKOSH, Wis.- Students and staff at UW-Oshkosh talking about diversity on campus. Some students claim they've been the target of racism and now the chancellor is trying to change that.
"This affects people, it affects people's lives in so many ways," explained UWO junior Jeanette Ward. Ward says she's been the target or racism on campus herself.
She's originally from Milwaukee and she says being the minority is difficult.
"I'm from Milwaukee so I grew up with a bunch of African-Americans, I never came to a school where it's majority white and I'm the minority here you know what I'm saying," said Ward.
Ward along with several others speaking out at Wednesday's Town Hall meeting with the Chancellor. Their claims of being targets are getting the attention of Chancellor Andrew Leavitt.
"Those kinds of stories disappoint me in that I do hear them," explained Leavitt.
The chancellor is taking steps to change these issues, using education.
"We need to figure out about how we can interact together in a better way on campus so that we can avoid conflict and misunderstandings," said Leavitt.
The college is starting a new scholarship program for minority students and they're also creating training sessions for staff, but students are asked to keep an open mind too.
"If we're going to take those steps to better this campus for our minority population, not just blacks or Latinos but everyone who's represented in that minority, we have to be educated," explained UWO senior, Aza Muzorewa.
The chancellor says this will be the last town hall style meeting he'll hold this year, but he'll continue to have meetings at his house to keep the conversation going. He says he's hoping in the long run to create lasting change that puts UWO on the map as the place to be for minority students.
