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Juan MerazPhoto courtesy MSU
Juan Meraz

Photo courtesy MSU

Petition calls for dismissal of MSU diversity exec

Posted online
A student-led petition seeks the dismissal of a Missouri State University diversity executive on the grounds he allegedly engaged in discriminatory practices.

The Springfield Coalition For Minority Advancement’s petition calls for the removal of MSU Assistant Vice President for Multicultural Services Juan Meraz, a Latino man who is accused of causing racial division among multicultural students, being prejudiced against black students and withholding money from students approved for the school’s multicultural assistance grant, according to a news release from the minority coalition.

The group released a student recording claiming to be in a conversation with Meraz. In it, the man the organization identifies as Meraz discusses recent protests at the University of Missouri and MSU’s Multicultural Resource Center.

“That’s my concern with the MRC - it’s a hostile environment to anybody that’s not black and they articulate that very well,” Meraz was recorded as saying. “I walk in there and they look at me like I owe them money and it’s like, ‘Ya know, I don’t owe you s--- and I don’t have to tolerate that.’”

In a statement, NAACP Springfield President Cheryl Clay said while the organization’s practice is to avoid personnel and human resources issues, the group is siding with the Springfield Coalition For Minority Advancement in calling for accountability and transparency of MSU’s Office of Multicultural Services.

“Serious concerns regarding administrative accountability, including specific allegations by students who have not received previously approved funds from the multicultural assistance grant program, prove troubling,” Clay said in the statement. “The lack of response and the failure to act to rectify this situation from the Office of Multicultural Services appear to support the students’ allegations of retaliatory practices and lack of administrative oversight.”

In response to the petition, MSU issued a news release stating it has operating policies in place to ensure fair and consistent actions, but that special interest groups do not dictate the processes or the outcomes.

The release, which does not mention Meraz by name, states the school in November received a complaint alleging discrimination and harassment. A review was led by H. Wes Pratt, who recently took on the temporary role of assistant to the president and chief diversity officer, and Melissa Berry, interim director for the MSU office of institutional equity and compliance. The release did not state the results of the review, but said the complainant can initiate a formal investigation to further the process.

The student petition claims the process came up short because of a conflict of interest.

“We believe Pratt’s longtime relationship with Meraz hinders him from completing an objective investigation of the situation,” the student group wrote in the news release.

The MSU release further points to diversity initiatives the school has undertaken, including the promotions of Pratt, O. Gilbert Brown and TaJuan Wilson to diversity positions and the expected mid-March completion of a new annex for the MRC.

In recent months, MSU has faced racial controversy.

Early this year, Ken Coopwood, the school’s first black vice president, resigned from his role leading the office of diversity and inclusion less than a week after independent investigators with Ellis, Ellis, Hammons & Johnson PC searching for discrimination against him found “no credible evidence.”

The school is moving forward to find a successor for Coopwood, with a target of putting a new leader in place by July 1, 2017.

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