One by one people spoke out before the search committee tasked with finding Fresno State's next president. And for local attorney Joel Murillo, it all starts with finding someone who understands valley diversity.
“A president who is sensitive to the needs of the Latino community," said Murillo.
Chairman of the search committee Peter Mehas agrees and says the right candidate should have a broad spectrum of cultural knowledge.
“What we want is the same thing we heard today. Someone does need to understand the Hispanic culture, the Hmong culture, the immigrants that have come here," said Mehas.
Questions regarding the closed door process being used by the committee were raised by students and staff. Over the next few months the committee will review applications and conduct interviews, all of which will be closed to the public.
“It is a misnomer to say the faculty and students won't have input. You have a student body president that was elected by the students. You have faculty members that were elected by their peers," said Mehas.
On campus, students weighed in. Saying it isn't the selection process or president's background they care about most. They just want the best person for the job.
“It makes no difference to me really. I have no preference either way as long as they are qualified I don't see the color of their skin as something that should be a deciding factor," said student Scott Kandarian.
