photo by: Associated Press

Students cross Jayhawk Boulevard in front of Strong Hall on the University of Kansas campus in Lawrence, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

In the second major announcement of the day related to racism and equity issues, the University of Kansas said Friday it was creating a standing advisory council tasked with examining and monitoring programs and structures at KU to ensure they support diversity, equity and inclusion.

Provost Barbara Bichelmeyer announced the council’s formation just hours after Chancellor Douglas Girod announced the creation of a task force focused on evaluating local policing practices.

Bichelmeyer said that while efforts to improve diversity, equity and inclusion have been a priority at KU, the advisory council will ensure a “sustained focus and effort on this critical work.”

The council will consist of three dozen people from across KU who will serve terms or appointments of two or three years, Bichelmeyer said.

“This remarkable group will bring valuable perspectives and long-term commitment to this effort,” she said in a written message.”Equally important, join with us in doing the very hard work of dismantling racism and discrimination wherever it resides.”

Before the council even begins working, however, Bichelmeyer hinted at ongoing efforts to improve diversity, equity and inclusion practices from groups on campus working as part of KU’s new strategic planning efforts. She said she would announce many of those efforts after the fall semester begins on Aug. 24.

In addition to evaluating existing structures and policies at KU, Bichelmeyer said the advisory council would also recommend changes as needed “in order to create and sustain a healthier community.”

The council will also work with all of KU’s academic and administrative units to ensure they have diversity, equity and inclusion plans that align with the overall goals of the campus — which will come from a larger plan the group formulates that encompasses metrics for the Lawrence and Edwards campuses to meet, Bichelmeyer said.

The announcements Friday from Girod and Bichelmeyer addressed two of five plans the university outlined on June 2 — after national outrage and protests condemning racism, police brutality and social inequities — as part of a stated commitment to eliminate those issues from the KU community.

The other three objectives KU has said it will undertake are as follows, according to the June message:

• “We will charge leaders across campus to participate in training that will allow us to begin the work of facilitating intergroup dialogues that bring together representatives of agent groups and target groups to open up difficult conversations.”

• “We will partner with leaders in higher education and in the public and private sectors across the Greater Kansas City Region to engage in initiatives that immediately begin to address root causes in key areas that impact racial violence.”

• “We will ensure that improving equity, diversity and inclusion is explicitly stated as a goal for each team in our COVID-19 Design Challenge and in the longer term, in all of our Jayhawks Rising strategic doing activities.”