We've heard a lot about diversity this year.
It all began when The Chronicle reported Aug. 31 that the First-Year Advisory Counselor program has "a significant overrepresentation of greek-affiliated students and an underrepresentation of black and Asian students." Although this may be a result of competing peer counseling programs for minorities, such as the Africana Mentoring Program, one FAC board member told the paper that "it is important to keep improving the diversity of FACs by continually setting this as a priority of the program."
In October, The Chronicle delivered the news that Duke's study abroad program also lacks diversity proportional to the University's-which itself is not strong enough for some. Apparently, the expense of study abroad and other factors preclude many minority students from experiencing one of the hallmarks of the Duke education.
And finally, there is an apparent lack of diversity among professors. The Faculty Diversity Initiative, which began three years ago, has done little to get rid of disparities. For instance, The Chronicle reported Oct. 31 that "Duke's gender equity numbers are lower than the national average." And when it comes to retention of black professors, 66 percent who are hired stay. The overall retention rate for the faculty, however, is 71 percent.
This troubles many people. And for a university that prides itself on being progressive and enlightened, such facts could prove damaging to its reputation. Although it should be a concern, a lack of diversity is not always detrimental. Indeed, forcing a specific notion of diversity on a program or modifying hiring practices to accommodate it can make things worse.
The FAC program, at least in my experience, does not suffer because of its imperfect diversity. My FAC, for instance, was a greek-affiliated minority student. But when I think back on my experience with him, I find it hard to come up with an example of how his ethnicity added anything significant to the relationship. His kindness and humor-not his skin color-were what made him great.
The study abroad program should not be of concern either. Duke students go abroad to experience the people of another country-not each other.
And as for faculty hiring, diversity of thought should matter most. This does not mean that there should be affirmative action for conservatives (although I would like to meet a right-wing professor someday). On the contrary, Duke's hiring practices should be based on the applicant's merit and unique approach to his or her field.
Though important, race, class and gender should not dominate the process.
For those who disagree, how about the lack of diversity on our athletic teams? Duke does not have many Asians scoring touchdowns or nailing three-pointers, and there are no black students playing varsity golf or tennis. I certainly hope things change in the future. But for now, I'm not expecting the Athletics Department to address the issue of "diversity," because its job is to recruit and train the best student athletes possible-and nothing more.
Ideally, Duke would be just like the brochures: students of every color joined together to pursue knowledge in perfect harmony. But it is time to realize that disparities always exist, and despite every effort to promote diversity, birds of a feather still flock together.
Administrators should move beyond basic notions of diversity in determining what is best for Duke's future.
Jamie Deal is a Trinity junior. His column runs every other Thursday.?
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