A meeting Friday between Virginia football coach Al Groh and representatives of the University's Arab and Muslim community yielded an improved dialogue between the athletics department and student groups.
Groh organized the meeting, which aimed to address statements he made last month that associated Arabs with terrorism. He discussed his recent remarks and tried to alleviate the concerns of affected students.
Groh made his remarks during the Sept. 19 weekly ACC coaches' teleconference, in response to a question regarding the team's confidence in air travel.
"I'm not saying this to make light of it by any means, but I don't plan on having any Arabs in the traveling party so therefore I think probably that the threat of our being hijacked is fairly remote," Groh said, immediately sparking national media attention from ESPN, the Associated Press and newspapers throughout Virginia. He apologized later that day and has been open to discussion about the effects of his statement.
Groh could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Mona Dallal, a third-year Law student who attended the meeting, described it as a success and spoke optimistically of a positive future relationship. "Hopefully we can build upon" the meeting, she said.
At the meeting, students suggested coaches and staff attend a diversity training program.
And while nothing has been decided, a proposal by Director of Athletics Craig Littlepage to implement a training program has sparked some interest among coaches and staff.
"We've been discussing a number of different things," Littlepage said, although he stressed that there are no specific plans right now. When asked if the department has encouraged any similar training in the past, he hesitated to comment, saying that "we don't do things for publicity's sake."
Karen Holt, director of Equal Opportunity Programs at the University and a facilitator in various staff training initiatives, said that the University has provided faculty diversity training by request and on specific occasions. Holt also said that a school-wide mandate that would give all faculty-level employees instruction in complying with University policy and state and federal laws is being implemented.
"We have worked specifically with the athletic department in the past," Holt said, adding that current instruction involves legal issues more than sensitivity and cultural topics.
"What we do helps pave the way for discrimination training," she said, describing it as "a little bit more of an art than a science."
Dallal said she supports a diversity training program for all.
"Friends of mine of several years accused me of being too jovial, too happy" after the attacks, she said. "You know, it was an attack on my country as well."
The six students at the meeting were chosen for their past activism and included the head of the Muslim Student Association, the head of the Arab Student Association and othernatural leaders in the community, Dallal said.
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