Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

Virginia Tech senior Hermona Kiros joins a protest by about 150 people who assembled on the Tech campus Wednesday to voice concerns about racism.

BLACKSBURG -- A long day of student protest and discussion between Virginia Tech administrators and students upset at what they see as institutionalized racism netted two promises Wednesday from the university.

Provost Mark McNamee said the university will form a task force on institutional approaches to race and he will meet one-on-one with every minority tenure-track faculty member.

"We feel very strongly about the importance of diversity on this campus. It's clear that from what we're hearing this is not being perceived or happening the way people would like," he said.

McNamee shared the plans with students at an impromptu forum Wednesday night at Tech's Squires Student Center.

The meeting was prompted by protests Wednesday afternoon. Chanting "Virginia Tech is allergic to faculty of color," about 150 people -- mostly students -- marched to the steps of Burruss Hall from Major Williams Hall, home to the political science department where Christopher Clement teaches.

Clement, a black professor known for his activism and popularity with students, was denied tenure last week, providing a spark for protesters.

A group of students met Monday to plan the protest, where members carried signs, yelled chants and questioned McNamee on the Burruss steps. Signs included, "Virginia Tech does not care about black people at all," and "Virginia Tech: Embracing white supremacy since 1872."

Students also chanted, "3 percent is not enough" in reference to the number of black professors who are tenured or on a tenure track at Tech. The actual percentage of those professors at Virginia Tech is 3.2 percent, up from 2 percent in 1998. Minority professors in the same categories increased from 10 percent in 1998 to 19 percent in 2005.

Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

University Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Mark McNamee (far right, above) takes questions from a crowd of about 150 protesters on the front steps of Virginia Tech’s Burruss Hall on Wednesday.

But the percentage of black students at Tech stalled after initial gains early in the decade and is currently below 5 percent. That's less than half of the percentage of black students at all of the state's four-year public colleges.

Tech has been the site of several incidents of racist graffiti on campus in recent years, and a decision by the school's governing board to end affirmative action at the school in 2003 met widespread protests and was overturned.

McNamee, with a microphone in hand and Tech spokesman Larry Hincker at his side, took questions Wednesday afternoon from the group in an hourlong discussion in front of Burruss, which was occasionally interrupted by shouting.

McNamee got a particularly negative response when he began responding to a comment from Takiyah Amin, a black instructor at the school, by saying, "you're incredibly articulate."

Shouts of "that's what we hear all the time" came from black people in the crowd, upset at what they saw as an implication that they're not supposed to be articulate.

But McNamee received scattered applause when he admitted progress on campus was slow and said Tech needed to do a better job.

"We all have things to learn from one another," he said. "We all have to put our minds together, our hearts together, to try to make this a better institution."

McNamee proposed further discussion on the issue and, minutes later, the meeting at Squires was scheduled.

The meeting included five Tech officials, including Edward Weisband, a tenured political science professor. He said professors in his department are reviewed each year, but the third- and fifth-year reviews carry particular gravity. All tenured faculty in the department vote on the candidate based on his or her teaching ability, community service, scholarship and research.

University officials refused to discuss details of why Clement was denied tenure because it is a personnel issue. In an e-mail sent to friends and colleagues last week, Clement said he thought he was treated unfairly but did not discuss the explanation he was given by officials for his tenure denial.

Clement watched from afar Wednesday afternoon as students gathered at Major Williams, but did not take part in any of the day's events. He said he was moved to tears by the students' response and gave his thoughts on why he was let go.

"My own feeling is that the faculty here held against me the fact that I was promoted to a tenure-track position through affirmative action. ... Ultimately, they are the peer review that mattered to me," he said about the students.

The meeting in Squires lasted two hours and included an instructor in another department accusing his department head of racism and a teary-eyed speech from Clement's wife.

While talk of a task force elicited some groans, students were pleased that their protests elicited a response.

Shawn Braxton, a Tech senior who helped organize the protest, said he intends to be on the task force as he works toward a master's degree.

"The issue here is that these particular administrative tactics aren't new to us," he said of further discussions and task forces. "However, this is probably the quickest response that we've ever received. ... There is still hope."