Deflating 'diversity'

Diversity.\nCool word, isn't it? \nIn the fall, diversity permeates our collegiate landscape like the many colors of falling leaves.\nIn springtime at IU, the word floats through the air like the sound of the bees dancing in tulip blooms, the sweet sound streaming into students' ears.\nThis spring, the word can now be seen flying proudly on the campus street lights in banners proclaiming "1 for Diversity."\nBut does anyone know why? Does any student or faculty member know why IU pushes the word around so much?\nHere at IU, just as in many other places, diversity is in the eye of the beholder. A student from a small Indiana town might encounter their first "real-life" black here at IU, but a student from a major metropolis might be surprised at the apparent dearth of different skin colors on campus.\n Who beholds the diversity at IU? Who determines how much diversity we need? We have a black president. Is that enough? Scatter a few women and Asians here and there, and we've got ourselves a veritable melting pot of higher education, right?\nOr do we? The biggest minority group on campus, blacks, only accounts for 4 percent of the student body. Women, on the other hand, are the majority here, making up over half of IU. Doesn't that make us diverse? Women benefit from affirmative action too…\nWhile IU as an institution is pushing more and more time and money into the diversity word, IU as the student body goes about its daily, segregated life. Greek organizations are still black or white or Latin. Lunch time at the Indiana Memorial Union is still a paint-by-numbers affair -- blacks in front, whites by the windows.\nIn the 40 years since the civil rights movement, people in principle have become more welcoming, but in practice they still rarely move outside their social comfort zones.\nWhere has our buzzword gone? Its once proud ring has been relegated to the bargain basement of political speech. Anyone and everyone throws out "diversity" like sidewalk salt in the winter, hoping to melt the gullible hearts of any in listening range.\nAfter too much salt, however, things start to rust. All of the various fests, dances, stepshows and such have been played out. The participants feel as if they're on display, not appreciated for their worth, but for their ability to entertain the diversity-starved masses.\nDiversity has lost its motivation.\nWhat was once a noble cause is now a requisite for political correctness. We, as a University and a people, have been pushing for a singular idea of diversity for so long, we've forgotten why we need it at all.\nIt's not about crunching numbers and filling quotas. Diversity is benefiting from a divergence of beliefs and viewpoints and fostering acceptance. Let's face it -- Indiana as a state isn't diverse, so its universities probably won't be either. Instead of selling IU as a haven for small pockets of ethnic people, let's make IU the place where everybody knows your name, no matter what you look like or what your god's name is.\nSeeing a genuinely friendly face on campus will do so much more for a visitor than seeing diversity flapping in the wind.