Acorn

Issue date: 3/30/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Michelle Caffrey

Media Credit: Michelle Caffrey

As part of Drew University's quest for a more multicultural campus, the Student Government Association's Diversity Committee hosted a Discussion on Diversity to bring the issue to the forefront of the student community.

Last Tuesday, the committee, along with Special Assistant for Diversity Erec Smith and approximately 20 interested students, met to discuss what diversity at Drew really means.

Drew's official mission statement on diversity was the first point of conversation. What does it actually mean to say that Drew is "striving continuously to be a welcoming, diverse and socially just campus"?

For Smith, this can be accomplished by instilling the desire in students to figure out things for themselves through intellectual and experiential means.

Diversity can mean many different things other than just race, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation, Smith said.

"One of the things I think is missing is how the concept of diversity is connected with the overall mission of Drew," he said.

Senior Zack Hershman agreed with Smith that revision and review of Drew's mission statement is necessary.

"One thing that Drew's mission statement lacks is any definition of diversity itself," Hershman said. "Nor does it imply ways of implementing diversity on the campus."

One of the ways that Smith is working on implementing diversity is by including more diversity-geared courses to the liberal arts curriculum. Smith and Provost Pamela Gunter-Smith are also drafting a policy to increase funding for programs that promote diversity awareness.

A national faculty initiative, looking to hire professors of multicultural backgrounds is also beginning to bear fruit. Already two faculty members have been selected through this program, Smith said.

"I've been seeing a lot of beginnings of Drew becoming diverse," senior Jen Dugan said. "Social justice takes time."

Since her sophomore year, Dugan has looked for ways to integrate queer studies into the curriculum at Drew. She said many members of the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Queer Alliance have felt alienated from the discussion of diversity at Drew.

However, being labeled as a minority group on campus is also another notion that Dugan hopes to dispel by advocating diversity initiatives on campus.

"[For some], dealing with diversity is hard but it's also something you have to conquer," sophomore Dana Etkowicz said.

On a college campus, with such disparate groups of students from different backgrounds, confronting diversity in opinion, intellect and race is inevitable.

In the end it is up to the students to make an impact, junior Ryo Kuroki said.

"Discomfort is not a bad thing," Smith said. "The diversity issue is really a constant struggle."

With Orientation Committee and student activities-sponsored diversity workshops in place for incoming freshman classes, Drew has begun to address the seriousness of diversity awareness.

According to the University's mission statement on diversity, the goal is to achieve a learning environment in which students, faculty and staff understand the challenges, accomplishments and perspectives of various groups of people, thus gaining a fuller understanding of themselves as well as how to engage in conversation spanning differences and commonalities.

Diversity is not just a matter of race or ethnicity, Dugan said, it's the individuality that everyone brings to the table.

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