Reality

A Message From The President

A Statement to the Texas Tech Family


When I became president of Texas Tech four
years ago, I announced that my highest priority
was putting people first. The people I referred to
are those who make up the Texas Tech family:
students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends. I was
obviously most focused upon those who spend
their time living, working and learning on this
campus.

Communicating with the Texas Tech family has
always been my highest priority. Because of
recent inappropriate pictures posted on the internet
that have been painful for members of the Texas
Tech family, I feel compelled to reach as many of
you as possible with my thoughts on how we
respond to people we perceive as different from
us on this campus.

I would like to restate the importance of the core
values that define this university. These are
integrity, dignity, civility, compassion, and
diversity. These values help define ethical
standards in human intercourse, and at Texas
Tech they are the foundation for achieving our goal
of academic excellence. Our mission as a
university involves teaching these values and how
they engender respect for other people and other
cultures, their customs and their contributions.

It is my hope that all people associated with Texas
Tech University become more attuned to the many
positive dimensions of a diverse society and to the
lifelong benefits of exploring and celebrating a
variety of diverse cultures and appreciating people
with different experiences and worldviews than
our own.

I think it is time for this campus to open a
discussion on issues of diversity and equality so
that all members of our community can express
their opinions and seek to learn something from
each other. While the staff of Mentor Tech and the
Center for Campus Life have met with concerned
students on several occasions, I have asked my
Special Assistant for Institutional Diversity, Dr.
Juan Munoz, to immediately organize a series of
meetings for the purpose of gathering student,
faculty, and staff input on how Texas Tech can
best address issues surrounding the importance of
diverse cultures in a learning community.

I hope you will plan to attend and ask your friends
and associates to attend as well. The results of
these sessions will be a series of
recommendations which I will review for
implementation.

The hallmark of all great universities is that they are
bastions of open communication and communities
that champion debate and the free exchange of
ideas. Texas Tech must be a place where
freedom to think, to question, to criticize, to invent,
and to create are woven into its rich tapestry of
traditions and values.

The free exchange of ideas on our campus
requires that we give special attention to issues
that could divide us and damage our campus. I
hope you will join me in a discussion on diversity at
these upcoming sessions. Look for details of the
meeting locations and times in Daily Toreador ads
and on TechAnnounce.

Jon Whitmore



now to be brutally honest at my beloved university. This is a load of bull. It is honestly some of the biggest load of bull i have read in a long time. And this is why. Tech is not diverse, nor is it open to new ideas and different cultures. They are not open to other people's views on religion and politics. Tech is a conservative bubble that needs to wake up. Lubbock has some of the highest STD rates in the nation, as well as this city is probally the most homosexually oriented city in west texas. Its just all hidden, it has to be inorder for it to exist. The "exchange of ideas" does not happen worth crap, and i'm actually insulted at the fact that my university is so oblivious to a blaring fact. That Tech and Lubbock is painfully conservative. It kinda remindes me of my life at home. Its something that my good dear friend Jonathan and i have been talking about lately. That we tend to be a certian type of person around our friends and families at home, but when we are actually amongst people most like us, we are totally different. Its a sad existance, but sometimes it is one that needs to be just for the fact that the fear of our parents totally going haywire haunts our thoughts on a constant basis. Its simular to Tech. I think tech has to keep this nieve front while the students bring light to the actual university. crazy, but it makes sense in my head. *nods*

-Reijn