Diversify your education

We want it. We're committed to it. We have offices and vice presidents who are in charge of it. But on a campus that as of this year is 82.7 percent white and only 11.7 percent minority, can we ever achieve it?\nAs a liberal arts university, our commitment to diversity is one we should never let go or allow to grow weak. But it must be coupled with effective means to reach our goal. When growth in minority enrollment only increases .2 percent in a year, it becomes clear that somebody's not getting the job done. "Effective" has no care for "good intentions." And so many have been questioning the actual feasibility of what we've so fondly come to call "diversity education."\nCan you teach diversity? Well, if you're Barry Magee, assistant director for diversity education at RPS, it takes a lifetime, and it is very confusing.\n"How do we define teach?" he asked the IDS in a features article concerning his field of expertise (Oct. 1). \nAnd how do we define "define"? Barry's response reveals the crux of the diversity education dilemma. No one knows what kind of "diversity" is worthy of teaching and how exactly to offer it in the classroom.\nBut don't we all agree about what diversity is?\nSurprisingly, no.\nSome think it's enough to remove the Caucasian blinders from those who simply haven't come into contact with other cultures. Others feel that some are being too exclusively inclusive -- intolerant of the idea that maybe even those with culture aren't accepting of the fact that maybe not everyone has to be friends.\n"Tolerance" doesn't mean celebrating those who are different. It means putting up with them.\nNow, this certainly is not the ideal we would hope to achieve. Of course we all dream of the garden where nobody sees color or disagrees about God, but can the classroom setting be reserved for instructing students on how to make their way to Eden? \nWe teach Plato's "Republic" in a political theory course with no intention of applying the ancient schematic. We teach American constitutional democracy in a policy course, with every intention of making it work outside the classroom walls.\nThe word "diversity" has so much emphasis on making visible in every aspect of your life the fact that you respect different customs that suddenly nobody is living up to its standards. This department can use more Latin professors. You don't have enough girl friends. That guy has never been in a mosque. That girl has never been to a farm.\nMaybe we should realize we can't force a group-load of students to make sure their social circles are representative of the cultural patchwork of America. We should simply teach students to recognize and respect other social circles when they interact.\nAs President Herbert said, "I'm not sure you can teach (diversity) to students. You can foster a climate of understanding."\nUnderstanding. Exactly. We don't have to agree, or necessarily like each other, but so long as we understand the way each of us came to these crossroads, hopefully we'll allow each other to pass without a balled fist.