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* Diversity 1 Multicultural program Bfr College Press Service jDiversity training and multicultui a| programs, created in the earl l$80s on American campuses to eas student relations, may be causin mpre harm than good, according t cijitics who say walls are not tor rlhnm Kv cpmritinn npnnlp in I uy mi i/ j tfvyntHbing y w^/tv mv gipups, but by unifying them, k jpThe buzzword "diversity" croppe 'up when educators, aware of new d< mographic realities on America's can p^ses, became concerned that sti dents were not prepared for the va< differences in race, language, religior national origin, sexual orientation c gender they would face on colleg campuses or later in their lives i workplaces. Respite continuing racial tension on college campuses, some fear thes pjpgrams may have gone too far an have created further difficulties by fc casing on differences between sti plants rather than their commonality **My question is, how do you teac 'diversity? It's such a nebulous term, said Oron Strauss, editor of the cor scivative Dartmouth Review newsp; par in Hanover, Conn. "The impoi tapt thing for colleges to teach is ir tellectual diversity. This stems fror all sorts of differences ? ideologic; differences ? because this is what tn ly makes colleges exciting." Strauss charges that today's college and universities are addressing mu ticulturalism in terms of numbers c *.* ti _ J ^i_ _ _ a a ^minorities enronea in tneir scnooi: rrhe administrations, he said, are pn occupied with percentages and ar neglecting to unify students. *How many of this kind of persoi can we get?" he said. "How many c that kind? This is the wrong way of gc ing about it." The term "diversity" bothers Straus even more, he said, because educt tofs are not being direct about whs th^ir goals are. fril right; R3y College Press Service Jhirty years ago, the summer ennui ica was shattered by the murders of I rt*hts workers in Mississippi, i nis ycr< cation named for one of those young joined with other groups in a nationa n Capture that youthful activism with S jemmer '94. This summer, young people will v c vil rights veterans at three nation; ?hces to identify social problems fa< generation and what they can do to sc Three national conferences are plani ticulate a "national youth agenda," 1 i r 1 II i I You I t read * * MasterCar \ | job, and it your copy Jt's more th l I ! I * f I I jecoming a ( is separating instead of uni "It seems to me that the terms are r. skewed," he said. "If they want to y teach acceptance of other races, don't e put it under the guise of diversity or g as an intellectual pursuit. There are a 0 lot more intellectually worthwhile n things a person could be studying." Q Dartmouth College offers a number of multicultural courses and a pro^ gram known as Affinity Housing that offers minorities the opportunity to " live in dorms with other minorities. While all Dartmouth students take ;t part in a common convocation and ' commencement service, minorities ^ are invited to participate in separate ceremonies. To Strauss, such developments mean that too many students are finding comfort in closed, ethnocentric s groups. "While it is acceptable that students will have different interests and exv tracurricular activities, the administration should not make it so easy," ka co*f\ kkTkpor ok/^i/*ot-inn tkoir iil cwuu. iuv; oiw <UAiiv.auii5 uivu iw? sponsibility for community by promoting diversity. l" "It's very important to focus on tral* ditions and school spirit, our similarr" ities, rather than concentrate on our l~ differences. I just don't feel separation n is the solution." ^ A former trustee for a Long Island, ?* N.Y., community college agrees. Robert Unger, an attorney who is 5 publisher for The New York Guardian, which he terms the "most >f politically incorrect newspaper in ? America," said he believes that teach> ing multicultural ism on college came puses will not eliminate racial oreiu dice but exacerbate the problem, n "Racial bigotry is a moral problem," >f he said. "The schools can't teach > morality. Multiculturalism teaches that everyone be treated the same and is equally, when everyone should be i- treated fairly and jusdy. For example, it I would not treat you the same way I would treat a rapist." ? dm v v * ~ ^ ! > gruups UCU] network of youth activists and l i of Amer- tional TV and radio public sen iiree cjyji produced by the Andrew Gooc it a fbun- tion collaboration with Rock r men hac The Andrew Goodman Founi 1 effort m ins ^the Black Student Le ? , work, the U.S. Student Associatk neeaom Environmental Action Coalition, Rock the Vote and other grassr rork with tions to help youths work on U confer- peace, justice and opportunity. :ing their "Andy and the thousands of >lve them, involved in the civil rights move led to ar- in activism as a way of life," sai to form a mother, Carolyn Goodman. "Yo may ing i d offers lots 's written fo: for $9.95, c; tan a credit a lirty word ifying college campuses Unger decries what he calls a "victim mentality," which he says is pervasive in America's individual citizens, as well as racial groups. Teaching multiculturalism, insists Unger, abdicates the personal responsibility necessary etnnic DacKgrounas, Dut to iocus on them is not helpful," said Robert Grant of the American Freedom Coalition, a conservative activism group in Washington, D.C. "The multicultural movement has gotten out of hand. It's trying to force us together, but it is divisive and is driving us into tribal camps." :o launch a na- day are just as dedicated ice campaign, Their experience and i iman Founda- heart of the debate abo the Vote. generation and the cour iation is work- Goodman, James Chai adership Net- erner were killed during >n, the Student 1964, a massive voter re; , Youth Action, al, black Mississippi that oots organiza- of publicly sanctioned issues such as young men were among organized by the Studen young people nating Committees to jc :ment believed already begun by black i id Goodman's During the summer, ung people to- cans filled out voter re even < ^ A fi-ar oil V iiiivi a?? of useful ti] r students b1 4 all 1-800-JC -f T . I ira. Its smat for students to learn to respect others. "We have whining victims in this country," he said. "You can turn on the idiot TV shows during the day and see the victims. No one is stressing individual responsibility. No one is responsible for our destiny more than ourselves. If you are in a bad way, racial or otherwise, you are responsible for pulling yourself out of the mess." Unger, who wrote the book "America Does Not Owe You a Living," said that while studying other cultures should not be a problem, doing it at the expense of a full education cheats students. "They all seem to know who Martin Luther King is and who Jesse Jackson is," he said. "But they don't know anything about Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and can't tell you what the Constitution is, and the basis of our American legal system." Another conservative said teaching multicultural ism on today's campuses is doing nothing but forcing people back into tribal camps. "Young people should know their Crashing Pumpkin An exhausted Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jim mance at the Township Auditorium. Chicago's Pu: Ives to fighting I to righting social ills. 80,000 people joined the Mij rision must be at the Democratic Party. But the eff< ut the future of their bloodshed. Eighty people wi ltry." were arrested, and four < ley and Michael Schw- Chaney, Schwerner and Goc ; Freedom Summer of "Our country today faces gistration drive in rur- matic as racism and oppress took place in defiance in the 1960s," said U.S. Rep. discrimination. The D-Ga., former chairman of th 1,000 college students ages of violence and despair t Non-Violent Coordi- work of young people struj fin registration efforts their communities. -esidents. "We must recognize the ha 15,000 African Ameri- people and provide the resoc gistration cards, and tackle the seemingly insuimo get pat , this book fron 3S on finding a y students. To c )B-8894. Maste t money; 7 1 If ^^1 HL J J^l ^IIb Photo courtesy of Diana GentHe ' my Chamberlain signs autographs after Sunday night's perfor- ' mpkins played to a sold-out crowd. racism in America i ssissippi Freedom feeing them." 3rt was marred by The groups involved said it was important S ere beaten. 1.000 ... . lied, including to ,ook back in order to move forwardxlman. "Freedom Summer '94 provides an imporproblems as dra- tant opportunity for this generation of youth ion of Mississippi activists to revisit the strategies of Mississippi John Goodman, . , .. w. r, , e SNCC "But im- m W64, according to Lisa Sullivan of the Black . obscure the hard Student Leadership Network. "This experience jgling to reclaim is invaluable to help us determine the best way . , , to jump-start a social movement in the 1990s ; rd work of young , . - , . ^ . irces they need to capable of completing the unfinished business untable problems of the civil rights movement." 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