Diversity has descended upon the Athens campus! Well, at least for two days. Last weekend the Center for International Studies sponsored a workshop discussing the issues of intractable conflicts around the world, focusing in on the cases of Colombia, Indonesia and Sudan. Populating the gallery of Grover Hall was a mélange of faculty, students and other curious individuals of different ethnic backgrounds. It was inspiring. It was incredible. It was in Athens?
Based on statistics provided by the Office of Institutional Research, Ohio University's regular campus enrollment was more than 88 percent Caucasian entering the 2003 Fall session. Hispanic, Asian American and Native American enrollment combined to represent less than 3 percent of the student population. As a former resident of Los Angeles, I was shocked to see such a lopsided representation of America's heterogeneous populace sauntering around our red-brick campus.
Recently inaugurated President Roderick McDavis has declared diversity a priority for his presidency. He leaves his position as provost of Virginia Commonwealth University, an institution that deservedly boasts a minority representation nearing 40 percent, according to an article in The Summer Post (Aug. 26, McDavis dishes on diversity
development). As evidenced by the interplay at the Beyond Violence conference last weekend, diversity plays a crucial and often unrecognized role at the university level.
A segment of the conference was organized less in a lecture fashion and more geared toward discussion and brainstorming. I found this to be the most informative, not because I was able to spew my own virulent rhetoric, but because personal accounts and anecdotal details surfaced.
Conflict, violence and social stratification in foreign lands are best understood when a Nigerian can tell his story, when an Indonesian can emote her discontent and a Brazilian national can sit silently at the back of the room and relate.
Too often do we as a student body resign ourselves to the mercy of the lecture format. It is through dialogue and debate that the importance of diversity takes the spotlight. When groups with cultural histories that run the gamut meet to discuss an issue, learning is taken to another level. President McDavis knows how to increase diversity, and his programs should have the full support of the university community. While Ohio University may never eclipse the multiculturalism represented at last weekend's conference, the road toward that goal will benefit all parties involved.
-Elliot Field is a graduate student majoring in international affairs. Send him an e-mail at elliot.field@ohiou.edu. 17
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Elliot Field
