Report outlines diversity progress

IU's Office of Student Development and Diversity, along with the office's vice president Charlie Nelms, released a comprehensive report last week that tracks and describes IU's progress in becoming a more diverse campus, including recruitment of more minorities.\nThe "20/20 Report: A Vision for Achieving Equity and Excellence," cites several accomplishments since the last report came out in 1998, in addition to challenges IU still faces.\nThe update focuses on attempts to diversify IU administration, faculty and staff, and Nelms and his staff express concern that few departments are led by minorities.\n"Senior staff positions seem to be occupied by white candidates, despite efforts from the offices of Academic Support and Diversity and Affirmative Action to diversify pools of candidates," according to the report. "However, the Strategic Hiring and Support Program has brought record numbers of minority faculty to campus."\nThe new report lists several recommendations made in 1998 and the progress made since then regarding each point.\nOne of the most critical concerns from the 1998 report was campus climate and an overall indifferent or "chilly" attitude. The report asserts that the murder of IU student Won-Joon Yoon in 1999 and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks prompted a heightened awareness of the importance of respecting diverse populations.\nA solution to this concern included the creation of Conversations on Race, a program in Residential Programs and Services that focuses on candid dialogue about race and personal experiences.\n"(Conversations on Race) represents one of the best examples of addressing diversity because it emphasizes honest dialogue," said Lillian Casillas, director of La Casa -- IU's Latino Cultural Center. "The unwelcoming feeling that many students face is often attributed to the lack of comfort, and we haven't gotten enough in-depth."\nCasillas, who attended IU before working with La Casa, said she has seen an increase in Latino students, faculty and staff in 18 years, but still thinks recruitment efforts could improve.\n"People still have basic to no knowledge on who the Latino community is, and it is this ignorance that creates the unwelcoming feeling," Casillas said.\nAlthough the 2003 update includes a myriad of information about efforts to expand resources and implement diversity programs and enrollment, Nelms' consensus of the report was optimistic.\n"The '20/20 Report' shows that diversity is clearly on the radar screen for so many people at IU," Nelms said. "If you look at what's happening in RPS, IDS coverage, cultural centers and administrative units, diversity is a topic of conversation throughout the University. That is a major change from what we found in 1998."\nThe report lists several institutional highlights in the last five years, including the appointment of President Adam Herbert, IU's first minority president and Sharon Brehm serving as IU-Bloomington's first female chancellor.\nOther accomplishments include three female deans leading the Honors College, School of Law in Bloomington and School of Public and Environmental Affairs and the creation of the Neal-Marshall Education Center.\nMaysee Yang-Herr, a graduate student in the School of Education, said too many people are unsure of the true meaning of diversity.\n"When we throw the idea of diversity around, we often just concern it with being black and white and that's not all it encompasses," Yang-Herr said. "We can't deny that there have been strides and accomplishments, but we also need to look at who these accomplishments have benefited and whose voices are being left out."\nNelms lauded the efforts of the report and said what sets this research apart from others is it's commitment to looking into follow-ups and progress.\n"Often times, reports are produced and they get put on a shelf. This was not placed on a shelf, but it served as a guide for what we want to achieve here," Nelms said. "Diversity is a work in progress, and we should see this report as a snapshot in time."\n-- Contact senior writer Maura Halpern at mhalpern@indiana.edu.