DIVERSITY. This word immediately emits a sound of exasperation and an accompanied eye roll with the comment, "Are we talking about this again?" Whether it is frustration due to the lack of progress, or whether it is an apathetic annoyance to this issue, diversity always generates some kind of response. What happened? Do most people honestly not care about this issue? Or has it been "shoved down the throat" of too many people? Do we need to revise the way we approach this issue? How much is too much?
I am a proponent of diversity. (Who isn't? Or would admit they weren't publicly?) I am also an activist. I am a moderator in Sustained Dialogue for a first-year group; I attend meeting after meeting dealing with diversity. What am I doing questioning the efforts of the University to "educate" the student population about this issue?
Last week I sat down with my first- year Sustained Dialogue group and I asked them two questions: First, what was their ideal U.Va., and second how well did the first-year fall orientation deal with this issue of "diversity"?Among the 10 first years there, they unanimously agreed that although the first-year orientation was interesting, there was too much emphasis on diversity. As first year Daniela Vasan stated, "Diversity is very important, but it was overdone during orientation. I am proud to say I am a minority; I just don't want to feel that I got in because I fulfilled a quota. The point can be made to say we represent different viewpoints, but not dwell on it because I feel that it divides us more."She raises two very valid viewpoints that are shared by many minority students: One, that by emphasizing our diversity here at this university we have indirectly or directly made it seem as though minorities are here to fulfill a quota and are not here by their own merit; and two, that by emphasizing the differences, we have only served to divide students and make them forget the commonalities they share. Other first years have echoed Vasan's views, some even saying that all the emphasis on diversity has only made them aware of a race problem, whereas before it never occurred to them to notice. But is it better to live in blind oblivion, or is it better to see in stark reality?
I truly believe that there will never be a "perfect" solution to this problem. There will always be acts of bigotry and remarks of ignorance. However, this does not mean that we accept that we will never reach a utopia in race relations and do nothing. What it does mean is that we need to identify problems and constantly seek to solve them and strive for an ideal. An ideal, as first-year Gretel Truong put it, where "We don't have to think about race problems and where differences are embraced, not pointed out...where our comfort zones are limitless and always open to absorbing more."
Therefore the most important question is what do we do?
I understand the importance of talking; I understand the importance of using personal relationships with others of different backgrounds to start change. However, when it comes to changing the University on a larger scale, it will take a whole lot more than students talking. As one professor on the panel for "Soul Awakenings: Personal Journeys of Race and Identity" pointed out, in order to improve race relations here there needs to be an "institutional and infrastructural change at this university." What does this mean? This means that we need to start from the top down. The students at this University are proactive when it comes to diversity. There is an established group on Grounds to talk about race and diversity issues. We have many forums organized by students, as well as action committees such as Zero Tolerance for Ignorance.
But there comes a time when students can only do so much.
What needs to be addressed is the administration at the University. We need to take a closer look at the administration; we need to see who really holds the power at this university. Who does the hiring, the firing and the granting of tenure? Who is able to make institutional changes that will, over time, make this university a more diverse academic setting -- a place diverse in education, diverse within the student body, diverse in faculty, diverse in administration and ultimately diverse in ideals and ideas. There is one statement in the President's Commission on Diversity and Equity report that sums up what I have been trying to articulate: "The commission cautions that there are no magic solutions, and that success in the areas of diversity and equity requires constant and genuine commitment, as well as real resources, both financial and structural." There are no magic solutions. However, there are resources. The University needs to put the financial resources behind their pursuit of diversity.
Elizabeth Chu is a second year in the College. She is a moderator for Sustained Dialogue, as well as chair of the Diversity Initiatives Committee for Student Council.
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