Greased lightning
Lane Hickenbottom/DN
LIGHTNING brightens the sky Tuesday night over Jon and Jan
Vandenburg’s farm west of Brainard. Three funnel clouds were sited
south of Grand Island and tornado warnings were in effect for parts
of central Nebraska until 7:45 p.m.
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Meeting to explore racial climate
REVIEW from page 1
reviewed for racial problems, he said.
David Fitzgibbon, a UNL
spokesman, said civil rights officials
would meet with a community focus
group, the student judicial board,
minority student organizations, sever
al deans and department directors.
Chancellor James Moeser and
Multicultural Affairs.
Chuck van Rossum, director of
Multicultural Affairs Minority
Assistance Program, said he met with
the U.S. government representatives
from Kansas City, Mo., Tuesday after
noon.
Representatives wanted to hear
about the quality of life of minority
students at UNL, van Rossum said.
“They came here to listen to us
and to learn from us,” he said.
Dalton said in her openness with
the group, she would talk about
MASA’s four-year boycott against
Multicultural Affairs, which ended in
February.
Issues that MASA members said
triggered the boycott included
Multicultural Affairs hiring practices,
insensitivity and the lack of student
input into the offered services.
Dalton said she also would discuss
how the UNL fraternity's cross burn
ing and the entire racial climate
affected her.
“I think (this campus) definitely
has some fault,” Dalton said. “There
are a lot of MASA members who
have had racial incidents.”
Student government President
Sara Russell, who is meeting with the
committee today, said she also would
be open with the group.
The committee asked Russell to
talk about the Sigma Chi cross burn
ing.
Though it has been a year since
the cross burning, she said its effects
are still present on campus.
“There are still incidents popping
up on campus that we would consider
conflict along racial lines,” Russell
said.
“Although 1 do think we're mov
ing forward, there’s always work that
can be done.”
Murphey said the civil rights offi
cials would help the university get
some work done by offering tips to
better deal with racial incidents in the
future.
Before the group leaves Friday, it
will present some of its findings to
the university, Murphey said.
If officials find the university
could use assistance in fostering a
better racial climate, Murphey said, it
would help the university throughout
the year.
The government officials also
will share with other universities any
of UNL’s procedures it deems suc
cessful.
“This is a partnership that looks at
what appears to be a problem that the
school’s had to contend with,” he
said.
“If there are some changes that
need to be undertaken to help them in
formulating a plan of action, we will
help them.”
u
There are a lot of MASA members who have
had racial incidents A
Gabrielle Dalton
MASA president
Background shapes MASA leader
DALTON from page 1
The boycott ends
As president of MASA, Dalton
played an "instrumental part” in ending
the organization's boycott against
Multicultural Affairs in February, said
Lori Lopez Urdiales, staff assistant in
Admissions.
But Dalton wasn't always a fan of
the boycott.
"When the boycott came around I
didn't agree with it at all,” Dalton said.
She was a second-semester fresh
man when the boycott started in
February 1994.
The boycott was a result of insensi
tivity issues in the office, hiring prac
tices, lack of structure in the Minority
Assistance Program and lack of student
input into Multicultural Affairs’ ser
vices.
When MASA members voted on
the boycott, two people voted against it.
One was Dalton.
She said the issues the boycott
addressed were serious, but she didn't
think such drastic measures were the
best way to take care of them.
"It did go on for three years.... Did
it really need to last that long?” she said.
Chuck van Rossum, who was hired
as the Minority Assistance Program
director as a direct result of the boycott,
said Dalton was a catalyst in ending the
boycott.
“1 think that it was the initiative that
MAS A took under Gabe's leadership to
give a chance for (Multicultural
Affairs) to work out the issues,” van
Rossunt said.
“Working with Gabe and the exec
utive committee made it so much easier
for us to do what they asked to do.”
Odd one out
Dalton isn’t a typical student in the
College of Agricultural Sciences and
Natural Resources.
“1 don't come from a farming back
ground,” she said.
Dalton also is one of 43 minority
students in the college this semester.
Three years ago, there were only
eight.
But Dalton has used the experience
of being the “odd one out” to her and
potential UNL students' advantage.
When she first entered the college,
Dalton wanted to be a veterinary sci
ence major. But after a summer job at a
veterinary office, she changed her
mind.
But because of the support she
received from the college, she decided
to stick with the college.
Dalton became an agriculture edu
cation major and got involved as a stu
dent ambassador for the college. She
also co-founded the only Nebraska
chapter of Minorities in Agriculture,
Natural Resources and Related
Sciences.
As a student ambassador for the
college, Dalton has participated in out
reach programs in Nebraska, which, in
turn, has helped break down the col
lege’s stereotypes.
She has shown that students can be
involved in an area that has traditional
ly been dominated by students with a
farming background, said Juan
Gonzales, coordinator of diversity
recruitment and retention for the col
lege.
Dalton strives to ensure students of
any background are successful, said
Sue Voss, the college's recruitment and
retention coordinator.
Gonzales said Dalton has made an
impact on the college.
“She’s really done a lot for the col
lege, and we are really happy she was
associated with us,” Gonzales said.
“She’s one of our success stones.”
Dalton, who grew up in Scottsbluff,
does similar work in Admissions,
where she is the undergraduate assis
tant for western and central Nebraska.
She assists the directors in recruit
ing, helps with leadership programs
and keeps in contact with cooperative
agents throughout Nebraska. Dalton
started as an office assistant two years
ago in Admissions.
Urdiales, who works with Dalton,
said she has made prospective students
feel like UNL is the place for them.
“She does care a lot about the west
ern part of the state.”
Woman with a vision
Dalton has gained a heightened
awareness because of her trailblazing
efforts in Admissions, MASA, her col
lege and other minority organizations.
She said she has realized that
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recruitment of minorities.
“Right now I don’t think minorities
are a priority,” she said.
Urdiales said Dalton was always
willing to volunteer as a minority on
search committees, attend retreats and
be on discussion panels. She always
took the opportunity to share her per
spective.
“She has always been a young
woman with vision and is always striv
ing to make things better for Latino stu
dents here on campus.”