An article written by Kevin R. Benning and Miguel M Unzueta titled, “Perceiving ethnic diversity on campus,” argues the perception of diversity. Many studies were conducted on student perceptions of diversity. “First study, undergraduates (especially minority) perceptions on campus diversity were predicted by perceived social acceptance on a college campus, above and beyond minority representation” (Benning, Unzueta). The authors continue to emphasize on the ambiguity of diversity, “indeed recent work has demonstrated the terms referring to particular components of diversity, minorities and representation, are ambiguous and therefore that objective diversity indices are subject to perceivers’ motivated interpretation” (Benning, Unzueta). College and universities have been committed to diversity, and government agencies have invested great amount of resources on diversity, not limited to money. The authors conclude, “diversity seems highly valued and sought after, yet is limited scientific understanding of how people judge the diversity of groups and what characteristics they deem to be important for achieving diversity” (Benning,
While running Black Student Union (BSU) I contributed in organizing school-wide, conversations about diversity in higher education. I’ve also
Dr. Cephas Archie is the Diversity & Inclusion Program Coordinator for Houston Community College (HCC), where he assists in the implementation of the colleges 7 + campus Diversity & Inclusion Plan. Collaboratively working with all institutional stakeholders – both internal and external, Dr. Archie spearheads the institution’s diversity and inclusion efforts for the near 81,000 students, faculty and staff. As an employee of the Office of Institutional Equity at HCC, his efforts are accompanied by the college’s Diversity & Inclusion Council.
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).
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”)
This class has been challenging in many ways and has encouraged me to look at ethics and cultural diversity in many different ways. Institutional discrimination, racial discrimination, age discrimination, and gender discrimination is some of the information about diversity in the United States that has helped me better understand and relate to others in ways that I may not have before taking this course.
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.
For over a century the University of Texas (UT) has served as a leading institution educating America’s leaders, however; the lingering effects of prior discrimination haunt the campus. Due to perceptions that UT’s environment is not supportive of underrepresented minority students, the University lacks diversity within its student body. Regardless, UT continues to receive an overwhelmingly selective applicant pool. However, without student diversity UT deems it difficult to perform its mission of providing superior educational opportunities while aiding the advancement of our society.
Whether the University’s consideration of race is narrowly tailored to a principled, detailed diversification goal. A university’s approach, actions, and goals must be
For two days, I observed the first ten individuals entering the Jones-Sampson building located on the JSU campus. Observing these individuals allowed me the opportunity to explore how diversity is perceived from a small sample of the campus. I believe, a college campus is the perfect setting to view the hop topic called diversity. The population at JSU includes people from various countries, social economic backgrounds, class, gender, occupations, and sexual-orientation. According to the Webster dictionary, diversity entails the quality or state of having different forms, types, and ideas about something. For the purpose of this observation, the first ten individuals encountered were evaluated based on both their similarities and differences. The factors observed
As an African-American female coming here to Kutztown was a new experience. Attending a predominantly white school was nothing new to me, but coming from a city schooling experience was completely different than the town setting of Kutztown University. It was difficult getting adjusted to life at Kutztown, I did not know anyone and I did not have a roommate for the better part of my first semester; I kept to myself more. The diversity of Kutztown is not apparent at all. It’s buried under A.C.E. activities or mainstream organization funding. In direct correlation to the educational aspect of the matter, most professors that I have encountered are aware of the various issues are respectful to everyone so I speak for my peers. The diversity issue on campus comes into play within the student population.
Understanding “more Americans from every color and creed are now earning college educations so college faculty should reflect that” (Lynch, 2013, para. 2) efforts have been placed to identify areas that would be able to reach diverse groups to include women and minority applicants. These efforts will allow for a further range in a variety of sectors to include job boards, social media outlets, and mobile applications in addition to advertising on the Sincere College Career Site. The below have been
The culture perspectives on a macro level practice assumes that each organization develops a unique mixture of values, standards, presumptions and practices of how things should be done that eventually becomes an habit. Nashville State, in principle and practice, “embraces diversity as a central effort in its mission to improve the quality of life for the communities it serves” (Diversity, 2015). From a personal perspective, it would seem that a community college like Nashville State would have no barriers to all forms of diversity ranging from race to ethnicity to sex orientation to socioeconomic factors. There seem to be a sense of equality among the student population as well as the employees that work there despite differences in socioeconomic status. As a student intern who works in a student services serving students with disabilities, the official statement from Nashville State is representative of what the student population or employees look like. In addition to the stated diversity above, Nashville State further states, “in its many forms and expressions, diversity is essential to the mission of the College” (Diversity, 2001). Through commitment to diversity, the college seeks to promote a campus environment that is “representative of the cultural and racial diversity of communities it serves,” provides
Discussing diversity and inclusivity, specifically in the context of a university, is an extremely hard subject to broach. It can be sensitive for some, or even difficult to acknowledge for others. However, it is one of many subjects that, while difficult, is also equally as important to discuss. And when it is discussed in a manner that acknowledges its importance while being conscience of its sensitive nature, it can be truly beneficial and enlightening to the reader, which I believe you’ve accomplished extremely well. I would first like to take a closer look at how you refer to diversity on campus through your article. You describe it as something we as a society view only as a number or statistic, as a way for an organization to be able to make the claim that they are not “involved with the specter of racism.” You also make the claim that because of diversity being viewed as a number, it gives organizations a way to avoid combating circumstances and actions of racism by presenting a statistic of diversity that, upon closer inspection, really has no correlation to racism. I think these points a very legitimate. Collegefactual.com lists SIUC as being above the national average of ethnic diversity, yet this tells us nothing about instances of racism occurring on campus. However, you focus a lot on how this view of diversity being reduced to a number affects organizations and how these organizations may incorrectly use this perspective to combat the idea of racism existing