2008 Woodie Awards
Draining Diversity
Walid Zafar
Issue date: 2/23/07 Section: Opinion
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According to the Executive Summary of the University's Diversity Planning Task Force, this administration aims to promote a diverse campus community to "prepare students effectively for leadership in a pluralistic world." Obviously, in order to achieve such a goal, we would need to "increase the number of students, staff, and faculty from underrepresented minority groups." As a member of the Minority Logger Society, I commend the school for its "progressive" mindset.
Nonetheless, I question the administration's means of achieving diversity, a word that seems to confuse those in the ivory tower.
In 1974, there were approximately 99 African American students attending UPS. By 1985, that number had dropped to 42. What would warrant such an exodus from this great institution, a bastion of intellect? Sarcasm aside, the number of African American students declined as tuition increased. As former President Philip Phibbs put it, "The central issue - and it's important that we not be distracted from it - is financial aid."
If it is understood that raising tuition decreases the likelihood that minority students would be willing to fill the hallowed halls of Wyatt and drink from the fountains of Wheelock, than how do we rationalize a yearly increase in tuition coupled with nefarious penalties for such criminally offensive actions as deciding to pay your tuition in installments rather than as a lump sum? If the University is honestly pursuing the goal of preparing students for a pluralistic world, is this a lesson in how banks are going to take advantage of us?
They seem to have an obsession with racial diversity. Why do we need racial diversity and not social diversity? Perhaps they are one in the same but so long as we are fixated on a specific concept of diversity, we will never be truly prepared for a "pluralistic world."
In order to achieve true diversity in terms of culture and what individuals can contribute, it ultimately boils down to class and where students come from. There is much greater diversity between two white students, one from Seattle and the other from Walla Walla than there is between a white student and a black student that attended the same prestigious private high school in Olympia.
Nonetheless, I question the administration's means of achieving diversity, a word that seems to confuse those in the ivory tower.
In 1974, there were approximately 99 African American students attending UPS. By 1985, that number had dropped to 42. What would warrant such an exodus from this great institution, a bastion of intellect? Sarcasm aside, the number of African American students declined as tuition increased. As former President Philip Phibbs put it, "The central issue - and it's important that we not be distracted from it - is financial aid."
If it is understood that raising tuition decreases the likelihood that minority students would be willing to fill the hallowed halls of Wyatt and drink from the fountains of Wheelock, than how do we rationalize a yearly increase in tuition coupled with nefarious penalties for such criminally offensive actions as deciding to pay your tuition in installments rather than as a lump sum? If the University is honestly pursuing the goal of preparing students for a pluralistic world, is this a lesson in how banks are going to take advantage of us?
They seem to have an obsession with racial diversity. Why do we need racial diversity and not social diversity? Perhaps they are one in the same but so long as we are fixated on a specific concept of diversity, we will never be truly prepared for a "pluralistic world."
In order to achieve true diversity in terms of culture and what individuals can contribute, it ultimately boils down to class and where students come from. There is much greater diversity between two white students, one from Seattle and the other from Walla Walla than there is between a white student and a black student that attended the same prestigious private high school in Olympia.
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