Community Activists Call For Ouster Of U of I Chancellor

Champaign-Urbana community activists are calling on the University of Illinois to fire Urbana Chancellor Phyllis Wise over what they call institutionalized racism.

At a Friday news conference, Martel Miller and Terry Townsend released a report showing a steady drop in African-American student enrollment on the Urbana campus. The report listed a series of complaints, including that the U of I doesn't focus enough attention on hiring African Americans.

Miller said the university should do more to serve African Americans on and off campus.

"I want to engage the people in the university to see how we can come up with some things to make a difference in our community," he said.

Robin Kaler, a spokesperson for the Urbana campus, says the chancellor is working to improve diversity of all kinds.

"Our focus is on all underrepresented groups," she said. "So we work hard to help everyone who's in an underrepresented group no matter which one."

Kaler said the U of I has room for improvement but that the campus is one of the most diverse among Big Ten schools.