The Lie About College Diversity Summary

INTRO: Prompt: What should “diversity on campus” mean and why? Hook: Does diversity help liberate narrow-mindedness? What exactly is diversity? To say that diversity is approached on school campuses is an understatement to the level of understanding in this increasingly globalized world. By its definition, “diversity” requires inclusion. Are school’s really working toward the inclusion of everyone? This means including color, national origin, socio-economic status, and sexual orientation. Looking at court cases and polls shown in the short articles, “Introduction from Place, Not Race: A New Vision of Opportunity in America” and “The Trouble with Diversity: How We Learned to Love Identity and Ignore Inequality,” their approach to strengthening

Companies and educational institutions greatly benefit from the guidelines of affirmative action because they profit from the different ideas, work styles, and contributions unique to each diverse individual. As quoted in Paul Connors’s compilation, Affirmative Action, President of Columbia University, Lee Bollinger, addresses the importance of a diverse educational system by stating, “The experience of arriving on a campus to live and study with classmates from a diverse range of backgrounds is essential to students' training for this new world, nurturing in them an instinct to reach out instead of clinging to the comforts of what seems natural or familiar” (12-13). A statement by Southeastern Oklahoma State University further supports the idea that success in modern day society stems from diversity saying, “Our country is strong because of the rich diversity of our culture, not in spite of it” (Affirmative Action).

A conversation needs to be had regarding the effects of diversity. Diversity in practical terms is the inclusion of people from different walks of life whether it be color, race, or heritage. This topic is one that is sensitive for many people because of the history attached to this subject. In the past decade there has been instances where the supreme court has had to address the topic of “Diversity” to justify this ongoing debate. Like in the supreme court, college campuses have also discussed diversity in their college for a multitude of reasons. Additionally, they too have found many reoccurring problems relating to diversity, which will be addressed in this paper.

Some of these benefits include: promoting the understanding of different cultures, allowing students to be part of an environment where ethnic, racial, and geographic stereotypes are broken down, and creating a welcoming atmosphere for students of all races where they don’t feel like spokespersons for their race. Student diversity in a public University allows students to experience other cultures, and to be exposed to a variety of different viewpoints and ideas. By interacting with individuals of all backgrounds, students would be better prepared to face the obstacles that arise with the diverse workforce. In educating the leaders of America, UT believes providing a diverse learning environment is beneficial for nonminority and minority students. UT believes that a critical mass of students from under-represented racial groups is necessary to promote these educational benefits. Lastly, part of UT’s educational mission is to provide exceptional educational opportunities along with contributing to the advancement of society. UT states that the educational benefits that come from student diversity have a huge impact on the educational mission it’s seeking to accomplish. In order to keep its educational promise to current and future students UT states it needs a diverse student

Diversity on college campuses has increased, which has let people assume that racism decreased and acceptance expanded gradually, however minorities still face prejudice and discrimination. Harvard University presented a research where they gathered college students from 4 particular public universities and questioned them about the social behavior they have experienced or witnessed. In the contrary, they discovered that college students have encountered racist comments or negative facial expressions towards them from Caucasians (Caplan, page 31). This has led to propositions for instance, improving social conduct between children in school, more gratification in regard to one’s culture and positive outlook toward the culture of others because America’s obsession with race and racial attitudes continues to affect individuals emotionally. It is urgent to spread diversity at a younger stage of life, for upcoming children that are starting school. The need of role models around the nation is necessary and relevant to help multicultural education in the schools. Diversity has become significant since people all over the country are passionate about others knowing where they come from and making it possible of a more diverse society in the future.

Attending community college twice a week brings another diverse view of society. Observing students walk by in twos and threes who are in many instances of different ethnicities is a wonderful sight to see. Again, I tend to gravitate to classmates who are ethnically similar to me without a conscious thought. It all goes back to what Brooks was writing about in his article, that “what I have seen all around the country are people making strenuous efforts to group themselves with people who are basically like themselves.” (Brooks 62) I really do think and love the idea of diversity in this nation of different people.

Racial diversity is a term that describes the variety and nuances in the color of human skin. Throughout the course of education, students with darker colored skin experience discrimination and are not granted the opportunities they deserve. “As the United States becomes more racially and ethnically diverse, institutions…are [asked] to prepare students to live and work in an increasingly multicultural society” (Jones 249). The article describes research done in 2008 that investigates the relationship between racial diversity and community college normative campus climate. This research is important because the majority of research done within the heading of diversity and campus climate are focused on 4-year colleges (Jones 251, 259). The critical

The word diversity is indispensible in college pamphlets. Pictures of multicultural friendships permeate across each page in hopes of providing a mirrored image for prospective students. These pictures suggest a promised safe place for young adults of all backgrounds. However, in the instance of San Jose State University, one could argue their actions differ from the pictured proposal. Their main focus became avoiding liability rather than facilitating a safe environment for ethnic difference. This mentality typically reflects a view that claims acts of active racism and blatant bigotry should take the forefront of discussion while their comprising acts of passive racism are left behind. Campus conversations about race are being silenced

Diversity can refer to many things all over the world. Diversity can be defined as different statuses at are together collectively. “Diversity encompasses complex differences and similarities in perspective, identities and points of view among members if an institution. It includes important and interrelated dimensions of human identity such as race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity and expression, socio-economic status, nationality, citizenship, religion, sexual orientation, ability and age.” (“Luther College”) In conclusion, diversity is a group of different individuals that are grouped together; focus word being “different” and “together”. Diversity is very important at any setting because it challenges the way people think, it result in an effective way of analyzing thing because there are different perspectives that are being thought of. Therefore, diversity on college campuses in the United States is important because it increases academic and social interactions.

The realm of Higher Education is experiencing the same uncomfortable push occurring in other areas of modern society; the need for diversity. As it related to student population, the work of developing and nurturing diversity is experiencing marketed success, yet the trouble stems from

Without communication and interaction, students of different ethnicities have only decades of discrimination and racial profiling to apprehend each other by. A problem contributing to this is that, even though colleges have done a good job at gathering students of different ethnic groups, they have failed at giving them a diverse educational experience. This can only be done by establishing connectivity and interaction among them. This is a situation that must be addressed because it can lead to serious problems between student groups, both physical through confrontations among students and mental through verbal abuse. This dilemma is mentioned in Frank Bruni’s article when he says “Some students’ insistence not just that their viewpoints be

Assessing the College campus environment for any instances of hostility that may arise from a lack of commitment to diversity by communicating with peers,

Emphasized in 10 Reasons Why We Need Diversity on College Campuses is the expansion and growth of ethnic groups in America and the failure of universities to represent the population on their campus; America’s future workforce will be soon comprised of people of minority groups (Kerby). The county’s workforce will be inferior to other advanced countries if colleges don’t work to provide higher education for minority groups. By strengthening individual people, the society is collectively stronger. In order for this to happen, universities need to be focused on diversity in

Within the core of many educational institutions, diversity is a commercial tacit. While every institution cannot offer the same kind of diversity, the endorsement of such exists through various definitions. The Western Association of Schools and Colleges define diversity through the various classes: race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, disability, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, and age (“Statement on Diversity”)

The supporting side also believes that multiculturalism in education is an essential part of college. Studies have found that appreciation for diversity is lacking on college campuses. Evidence shows that among the growing tensions on college campuses, “multiculturalism