Because student body president candidates are in the position to become the representative of a diverse campus population, they also are having to assess the racial climate.
"That's always a real tough question, and it's always an opinion," said Archie Ervin, director of the Office of Minority Affairs.
"But I think that this environment is no worse or better than society as a whole.
"On the other hand, there is more discussion, focus and attention placed on inclusiveness than you would see outside of a college campus."
A firestorm of conversation and controversy over race relations erupted in 1996 when the Black Student Movement expressed support for a freestanding Sonja H. Stone Black Cultural Center among its 22 requests submitted to the late Chancellor Michael Hooker.
An alumnus' gift of $26 million to the University in September 1999 ensured funding for the building, bringing the highly contested center closer to a reality.
And all seven student body president candidates agreed that the building deserves a place on campus, but some said only if it promotes multiculturalism.
Few offered details about what the center's specific function on campus should be once it is built.
But the candidates' differing opinions on the status of race relations and the best way to address them highlights this issue's complexity.
