President Michael McRobbie sent out the monthly address on Wednesday to detail IU’s commitment to diversity and inclusion in the midst of Black History Month, but some students are saying their experience on campus indicates there is room for improvement.

Jonathan Nganj, a freshman, says that the University may think it has sufficient diversity, but he disagrees. Calieel Muhammad, a senior and president of the Black Student Union says, “If the university preaches diversity, in my personal opinion, they should also be included within these programs and at least show up to see what we are talking about.”

Both students say it is not uncommon for them to be in a classroom where they are the only African-American students. They also say that they rarely see any African-American professors outside of the African studies department. Nganji says “My high school was very diverse, so coming here feels very different.” Muhammad describes the change from high school as a culture shock saying, “In groups, its all minorities and then I come down here and there’s 40,000 students and I’m barely seeing my friends–barely seeing people who look like me.” ‘Groups’ is one of IU’s programs to promote diversity. Minority freshman are invited to campus early to go through the program in hopes to be admitted to the university full-time.

Students across campus also express concern for some historical landmarks on campus that they say don’t spread a positive and inclusive message. There are swastikas built into the wall of the Hyper building and murals in Woodburn depicting the Ku Klux Klan. Swastikas were a symbol of peace in the pre-World War 2 era, when the Iu building was constructed, so while the intention was not to offend, the Hitler era changed the symbolism. IU Spokesperson Chuck Carney says the university tries to educate students as to why these pieces still exist on campus, but students say times change, and we should make steps to remove anything from campus that could be taken offensively.

Carney says the African-American population on campus has doubled since 2007 and that the university puts time and research into making the diversity rates better, although he says “we have a ways to go.” McRobbie’s goal for the school is to have the population percentages of African-Americans on campus match those of the state’s. Carney says “We really do believe that IU is home and should be home for our students and we want to make them as comfortable as they can be.”