University of Minnesota Regent Steve Sviggum stepped down Tuesday as vice chairman of the board that oversees the statewide system amid growing outrage over his question about whether the Morris campus is "too diverse."
Sviggum will continue as a regent until his term expires, which will occur when the Legislature holds its regent election during its 2023 session, according to a statement from the University of Minnesota.
In a letter to Chairman Ken Powell, Sviggum said that after the two met Saturday morning, he came to the "realization" that he should resign the leadership position immediately.
"I owe that position to my colleagues who have shown disapproval in my actions," he wrote. "I do so humbly and thoughtfully, with knowledge that the success of the University of Minnesota is the most important focus and is much more important than any one person or position."
The announcement came as the board and Sviggum faced increasing outside pressure over comments he made almost two weeks ago at a public meeting. In talking about declining enrollment at the Morris campus, Sviggum asked acting Chancellor Janet Schrunk Ericksen whether from a marketing standpoint the campus was "too diverse."
Late Monday, the Morris Campus Student Associated voted 15-1 to call for Sviggum to step down as vice chairman. The group's statement cited Sviggum's "failure to stand for the institutional values of diversity and equity."
Regents James Farnsworth and Mike Kenyanya said this was the right move for Sviggum. For much of the past week, both said they'd been in private discussions with others about Sviggum's future as a leader on the board.
Farnsworth said he had supported Sviggum's removal from leadership. As vice chair, he helped "set the tone" for the entire system and all their work, Farnsworth said.
Regents are appointed by the Legislature so Sviggum could not be removed from the board by his colleagues. But Farsnworth said, "What we can do is say, 'This person's values are not in line" with the system.
Sviggum apologized last week, but he doubled down in his comments in follow-up interviews and circulated to regents a letter from a parent who urged him to stay the course.
"It became very clear, very quickly that Steve was not sorry," Farnsworth said.
In a note to fellow regents, Sviggum said he'd received two letters and forwarded one that he thought his colleagues should be "aware of." He began by saying, "Not to double down, and certainly not to back off my apology."
But his colleagues said they perceived the letter as another doubling down by Sviggum.
Kenyanya issued a public statement and said he thought the regularly scheduled December meeting of the regents was a "long time to wait" to discuss possible action to remove Sviggum from leadership.
Kenyanya said the board had heard criticism and concerns from tribal leaders throughout the state about Sviggum's comments.
After receiving the parental letter forwarded by Sviggum, Kenyanya said he believed the former vice chairman's apology to be "insincere."
In the letter, the parent told Sviggum that marketing for the Morris campus was all about "diversity." The unidentified parent ended the letter by saying, "you're on the right track. Please don't back down. We're with you."
Former regent Michael Hsu, who called for Sviggum's resignation from the board last week, called the stepping down a "good start." But Hsu said the next vice chair of the board "has to be a person of color and I hope that Sviggum, if he still has a vote, supports a regent of color as his replacement."
On Monday, Melanie Benjamin, chair of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, sent a letter saying Sviggum needed to step down from his leadership position, calling his question of the chancellor "inherently racist" and saying he was offering up the possibility that the concerns of "white racist students" should be treated as a "legitimate concern" for university leaders.
"If the presence of my granddaughter and other American Indian students and students of color were an actual factor in declining enrollment of white students, which I seriously doubt, wouldn't the real problem that needs addressing be white racism among high school students, versus blaming our students for bringing 'too much diversity?'" she wrote.
The Morris campus, which has a notorious history as an American Indian boarding school, now has 1,068 students and is 54% white. The campus sits on land originally occupied by the Anishinaabe and Lakota people. As a condition of turning over the land to the state, it was stipulated that American Indian students could attend tuition-free and that remains the case.
Last Friday, a group of 25 Twin Cities American Indian organizations publicly called for Sviggum's resignation.
"We are not entertaining apologies in this day and age," said Joe Hobot, chairman of the Metropolitan Urban Indian Directors group (MUID), which sent the letter calling for Sviggum's resignation. "Inarticulate statements and absent-mindedness is not tolerated. Your words matter and that's why we're calling for his immediate resignation."
At the time, Sviggum said he would not resign. He did not respond to phone calls Tuesday. But this is the third time he has been in the news for a resignation related to his position on the regents.
In March 2012, Sviggum choked up when he resigned from the board over conflict-of-interest concerns about his job with state Senate Republicans. "This hurts bad," he said at the time. "But for the good of all of us, for the good of the university, I will again — again — leave something that I love."
He handed reporters his resignation letter and left the room. The year before, he gave up a job with the university's Humphrey School of Public Affairs in order to stay on the board.
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