Investigating diversity and bias on campus is the task of a new special commission of the Government of the Student Body.

The Principles Commission hopes to gauge both students’ and faculty member’s feelings of acceptance and diversity on campus by holding forums with focus groups in November.

The homophobic and racial graffiti that appeared across campus this summer partially prompted the formation of the committee, said Phil Hernandez, co-chairman for the commission and a graduate student in educational leadership and policy studies.

Through the focus groups, they plan to ask open-ended questions regarding what an ideal campus community should look like and develop a mission statement based on the responses, Hernandez said.

Kevin Saunders, provost program coordinator, met with the commission on Thursday and helped answer their questions on how to implement successful focus groups.

Saunders said common mistakes made when conducting focus groups include not clearly defining the objectives and having too many broad questions that might not generate the answers that are sought after.

“I would encourage the commission not to explore too many topics,” Saunders said.

Hernandez said it is important the questions asked during the focus groups have a balance, so that the commission gets the information they are seeking without having people get too emotionally charged.

Saunders also said the moderators at the focus groups should do the least amount of talking, and if they are conducted right, it would be an hour of open discussion amongst the group members.

“I think that the language that you use will be very important,” Saunders said to the committee.

John Faughn, director for Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Student Services, said he approves of the idea.

“I think it’s an excellent idea,” he said. “Any time students can get together and take action, it’s more powerful than when it’s from the faculty.”

Hernandez said he is looking forward to the focus group discussions, which are planned for early November, and hopes the commission can become more defined after the meetings.

“We are still in that mode where we don’t know what it’s going to look like, but after we get the data, we will be able to compile something that will go in the insight of campus,” Hernandez said.

Ideally, he said he would like to see a set of value principles adopted by the university, so that when acts of hate occur on campus those principles can be used to justify actions taken by students who are put off by the hate crimes.

“The work of the commission can be somewhat overbearing, but I can see a light at the end of the tunnel,” Hernandez said.

After the mission statement is developed, the commission plans to distribute copies to the Government of the Student Body, Student Affairs, the faculty senate and the Professional and Scientific Council for approval.