Walking around with their eyes closed. \nThat's how junior Tanika Starks, co-director for Multicultural Outreach Recruitment Educators, described people who think IU is not diverse.\n"Diversity isn't just color," she said. "It includes gender, sexuality and many other characteristics."\nStudents are meeting to discuss diversity in Bloomington from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday at the Helene G. Simon Hillel Center. Titled "Diversity in Bloomington?" the first part of the evening will include food from various cultures, and then participants will discuss solutions to increase diversity.
What does diversity mean?\nBlack Student Union President Courtney Williams said diversity means more than representation. \n"Diversity is a group attitude of willingness to intermingle with persons unlike oneself on various levels of socialization," she said. "You can't say the population is diverse when people refuse to interact with each other. We have numbers saying we have different racial groups, but (the groups) don't necessarily mix."\nAccording to University figures, minority group enrollment figures at IU-Bloomington fluctuated this year. While Hispanic enrollment showed a 1 percent decrease, to 2.2 percent of the total student body, black and Asian representations both went up. \nAsian student enrollment went up 5.8 percent from last year, while black enrollment rose by 9.6 percent. Black students now make up 4.4 percent of the total student body, and Asian students total 3.4 percent of the whole.\nWhite students accounted for 80 percent of all enrolled in IU's eight campuses. \nEdwardo Rhodes, interim vice chancellor for academic support and diversity, agreed numbers of underrepresented students do not necessarily indicate a level of diversity. He said other factors should be considered, including graduation rates.\n"Diversity is not equity -- the two should not be confused," he said.\nCharleston Sanders, director of multicultural outreach, attributed the increasing enrollment numbers of underrepresented groups to targeted and deliberate outreach. \nIU is doing a good job in promoting diversity, but there is still room for improvement, said Oyibo Afoaku, director of the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center. She said while increasing numbers of underrepresented students is important, more needs to be done to create a diverse atmosphere -- partly by learning more about other cultures. \nOne way to promote diversity, she said, is to make attendance at IU events more diverse.\n"When you go to programs at IU, they are very segregated," she said. "We must make conscious efforts to come out and promote programs not about our own history and culture, but other's."\nWilliams agreed more students must participate. \n"The University likes to say there is diversity because there are a lot of different events going on," Williams said.
What needs to change?\nWhite students in general are not doing enough to promote diversity, said White Anti-Racist Allies organizer and senior Megan Selby. \n"A lot of white students I know don't make the choice to step out of their comfort zone and learn outside of their classes," she said.\nRhodes said white students need to know they're welcome at diversity events and groups. \n"A lot of talent hesitates to participate in activities because students don't realize they can get involved," he said. \nPart Eric Love's job is to reach out to the majority. As director of the Office of Diversity Education, Love serves as a resource and consultant on diversity issues for students and faculty. He said he's available to help students with class projects and develop diversity education programming, and speak in front of interested audiences.\nLove said all students must address diversity, calling it "a societal issue, not a people of color issue." He said employers are looking for with experience in a diverse environment. \nTo further his cause, Love is offering $300 and $500 grants to coupled groups of different backgrounds working together on an event.\nBut Williams, president of the BSU, said people tend to keep to themselves in their own ethnic group. \n"BSU tends to stay in a black bubble, and that harms us and other IU students," she said. "There's no reason why we shouldn't be a part of the campus culture. There are things we're typically not involved in that keeps us separate."
Campus diversity programs\nIndividuals have the responsibility to become active in diversity on campus, said Tom Hicks, graduate assistant for Conversations on Race. He said students need to experience new things and cultivate a sense of community. \nCOR facilitates discussion for students and the public to removes barriers between groups, Hicks said. Students need to trust one another before they can open up and discuss difficult issues, he said, adding that students need to expose themselves to different beliefs and "learning paradigms."\nThe Multicultural Outreach Recruitment Educators within the Office of Admissions target underrepresented groups of prospective students. "We want to include a feeling of community rather than just feeling diverse," said junior Tanika Starks, the MORE co-director. She and other MORE volunteers meet with students and talk over the phone to answer questions and provide encouragement. \nRhodes said University representatives speak with underrepresented students as young as 10 to get them thinking about college.\nWhile at least 77 cultural groups dot the campus, according to the IU "Big List" of groups, many at IU still have difficulty finding new and different people. Hicks said we may just need to search more. \n"If you look for it, there is diversity," he said.
