The Equal Opportunity & Diversity Advisory committee (EODAC) charge will stay in place after the results of a vote were announced on April 13. The proposed alternate diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) committee, which would have had more faculty representation but less classified staff and student involvement, was defeated with this vote.

EODAC is a committee designed to educate and facilitate diversity and inclusion for all students, employees, and the campus at large. This is practiced through advising BC and KCCD on institutional policies and practices within the campus and its culture.

Professor Steven Holmes stated that the DEI proposal is a faculty right. Holmes furthered his sentiment by saying BC is a temporary station in students’ lives, and having them in a high position is not ideal. The suggested proposal would have created a new committee of faculty members to examine and look into diversity and inclusion in academic review, assessment in student success, and the process of hiring faculty members. Holmes said that it would have allowed for EODAC to continue in collaborating with DEI on campus wide issues.

However, Professor Andrea Thorson, Co-Chair of EODAC, saw this as being problematic due to it not only removing key voices from different groups, but it would have limited the positions they can take.

She further strengthened this sentiment by stating, “Our EODAC was happy to include a student as a co-chair because co-chairs help plan the agenda and on an equity committee we shouldn’t be leaving one group out of a leadership role.”

Thorson also provided multiple reasons for the concerns she has with the situation. She stated, “Five other college wide committees have numbers where faculty do not have the majority votes and yet EODAC is the only committee under attack for this.”

On top of this, Thorson said she is concerned for the input of students and classified staff within DEI being ignored with it being a faculty only committee.

Following multiple meetings that saw students and faculty alike almost evenly split on what to do with the proposal, the final voting was held Wednesday April 12. The results were announced the next day with 107 against the new proposal to the 100 for it. In order to defeat EODAC 180 votes would have been needed.