Students who crowded the Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium Friday afternoon had one question on their minds: What's diversity got to do with it?
A diversity conference sponsored by several student groups focused on educating others about the importance of diversity and how it affects the classroom.
Student Senate brought Sylvia Hurtado, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, to present a speech on the significance of diversity on college campuses.
She is an expert on diversity and higher education and (Special Assistant to the President) Erek Perry has worked with her at various conferences. He highly recommended her
said Student Trustee Tara Stuckey.
Hurtado, who worked on the University of Michigan Affirmative Action case, covered three points in her presentation: not taking learning for granted, remembering that diversity is linked to the central mission of teaching and harnessing the power of peer groups. She said people often operate non-actively on autopilot and are in a state of disequilibria until they are faced with differences.
She tested this theory by placing second-year college students in diverse classrooms. The goal was to see if there was empathy for another person's world, racial and religious views.
The results of surveys given to the students showed frequent contact with diverse peers equated to higher scores on open mindedness. Any negative interaction in the classroom resulted in low scores on critical thinking. Students who professed a desire to influence society showed capacity for complex thinking compared to students who did not.
Hurtado said she is concerned that students receiving low scores are not prepared to enter a diverse work world. According to Hurtado, college is the perfect opportunity for a student to become better acclimated to diversity issues.
Students learn a great deal from their peers at college. In order to get along they must learn how to negotiate different perspectives Hurtado said.
Hurtado closed by saying sustained interaction was the secret to success in fixing diversity issues.
Delta Zeta member Alyssa Burke said, It was an empowering look on diversity in the classroom and social interactions.
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Blake Gillespie
