Inclusive Environment Paper

Because of the university’s commitment to diversity, I see differences among people in the same space as an advantage and a requirement, rather than a disadvantage.

Student engagement or the extents to which they participate in activities are key factors to the successful integration into college (Chickering & Gamson, 1987). In the publication, Seven principles of good practice for undergraduate education, Chickering and Gamson (1987) underscored seven categories of effective educational practises, which are student-faculty contact, cooperation among students, active learning, prompt feedback, time on task, high expectations, and respect for diverse talents and ways of learning. The overall scores of studies over decades indicates that student engagement in activities benefit all types of students in different degree fields. The positive interaction with activities creates the needed outcome including grades, satisfaction, and persistence. These give the student the devotion to other educational purposeful activities.. As noted by Chickering and Reisser (1993): “living on campus has long been associated with persistence and student success”. Forest (1985) also performed a study about student academic ability and found that institutions that provided the most extensive orientation, activities and advising programs had higher graduation rates. Pascarella and Terenzini (2005) reported that students in residences with strong academic orientation towards academics generally

Thirdly, they point out that a diverse student body better prepares college students to interact and work with individuals of diverse backgrounds in the future. By creating an environment where students can be exposed to a racially diverse group of people, their interactions further reduce prejudice and misconceptions about race (Grutter v. Bollinger, 2003). The amicus brief reveals that race is an inseparable component of an applicant 's’ experiences and should not be excluded from the admission officers’ consideration.

Even if the colleges are achieving their goals to get a diverse student body to the campuses, they fail to get those groups to interact.  In the article “The Lie About College Diversity,” Bruni’s interpretation on diversity explains that common college diversity programs are categorizing students together with similar backgrounds. Only a number of programs accept students to interact with fellow diversity students with different cultures, backgrounds or ethnic groups. These programs do not motivate students to reach out and share their thoughts with other groups because they could get rejected.  By learning other points of view and having diversity in the learning environment, it also helps individuals communicate better.  It also opens minds to ideas and concepts they might not have considered and provide them with

South Portland Community College (SPCC) is located in the primarily White state of Maine. Southern Maine is more racially diverse than the rest of Maine, but still has only a 15% non-White population. Of the over 6,000 students enrolled at SPCC, less than 20% identify as non-White, and just 6% are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans*, Queer (LGBTQ+) identified. To address the diverse needs of these traditionally marginalized student populations on campus, over the last several decades SPCC administrators, faculty, and students created the Office of Multicultural Student Life (OMSL) and the Spectrum Center for Gender and Sexual Diversity (the Spectrum Center).

Adam Gorlick in “ Got an hour? Boost your grades. Stanford psychologists design 60-minute exercise that raises GPAs of minority student” talks about the transition from high school to college and the difficulties many students face. In his article Adam Gorlick brings up various questions many freshman ask for example, will they fit in but also brings up the issue of being a minority in a new college campus. He later goes on to talk about how these situations during the transition to college are situations that everyone goes through.

Community and diversity are two of the most prominent factors colleges and universities use to attract students. At Temple University, it is easy to see that the school tries hard to implement these words into our heads whether it be succeeding or failing in reality. Temple makes it known in their mission statement, policies, and standing proof that they surely uphold the title as being one of the most diverse schools in the nation. However, after reading the chapter about Rebekah Nathan’s experience in My Freshman Year, I recognized her assessment among freshman is similar to that of my own granted it had not been completely

The Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion office is committed to ensuring that Ryerson is truly a diverse and inclusive place to learn, grow, and work. The office collaborates with the whole campus by leadership and strategic planning, consultation services, workshops, events, assessment, monitoring, and human rights services. Students can greatly benefit professionally by getting connected with The Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. By attending events hosted by the department, students can gain knowledge about community engagement, action, inclusion, respect, and putting people first. These skills and lessons are greatly valued and can be employed at an

According to Campus Pride, there are at least 102 colleges and universities in the United States that are not safe for LGBTQ students. Campus Pride is a non-profit organization created to help support the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, and queer community that are students in colleges and universities. Their prime goal is allowing colleges and universities to have safe spaces and treat LGBTQ students as equals. They work to protect their human rights and as well teach them leadership skills. They value social justice and as well as empowerment towards all students. They also offer scholarships for the LGBTQ students in help for supporting the community. Their website also indicates safe and LGBTQ-friendly colleges and universities.

“Our main goal is to create a space that brings together all kinds of students to help them raise awareness and celebrate differences in our inclusive school climate.”

As a member of several clubs and organizations, I have always valued the wide range of people you can find within the walls of my high school. If you walk into my Physics lab, you will find me collaborating with a dancer strongly involved in his cultural heritage and a volleyball player in the engineering academy. If you come to my Calculus class, you will see me calculating derivatives with a football player, a snowboarder, a National Honor Society officer, and a painter. The word “diversity” is often used to describe a cross-cultural population, but it is so much more than that. At Bartlett High School, students originate from hundreds of different cultures, with an abundance interests, and participate together in an assortment of activities.

Although it appears Fresno Pacific University wants a diverse organization, but, as now formed, they fall short of measurable diversity. One author states that diversity equals representation, its being invited to the party. It is imperative that inclusion is also discussed when talking about diversity. Once you get invited to the party everyone would like to be asked to dance. Opening a discussion of diversity without having members of the disenfranchised demographic group seems less than thorough or effective.

Coe College’s students each identity into their own various categories and subgroups of one another. These groups can be labeled by the individual's’ race, heritage, location, or more specific groups such as what sports the individual plays, what clubs, or what they value the most. Every person on Coe College’s campus is unique in their own way and if a narrow mind is looked upon an individual, it may seem that there is no common group between anyone. It is not until we extend past the differences to find commonalities that we can look upon to find common ground while still respecting the differences that make any person different from the other. As a member of Coe College’s most diverse class, it is essential to be more united than divided

As a former student employee, I participated in numerous conferences, workshops, and discussion groups on a variety of topics that revolve around social justice and inclusivity as well as served students with diverse backgrounds. These events provided me with insight into the adversities that many minorities experience and how we should address these issues. A salient discussion group that I attended focused on individuals who identify as LGBTQIA Latinx. This population is at a disadvantage when it comes to higher education as they face additional barriers. For example, in the LGBTQIA community many individuals do not pursue higher education because of financial reasons and do not have the proper social support. Unfortunately,

The first two chapters of this book set the background for student development and how theory has evolved over the years. As time passed and college student demographics changed, new ideas and views were developed to understand the ever changing student body. Theorists realized that the college experience was different between demographic groups. Being able to develop student affairs practices and activities that can reach the different student groups is probably the biggest challenge a student affairs professional will tackle. It is said that student development is most achieved by involvement by the students. This means that these activities must be designed to accommodate students from all walks of life.