The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 13, 1994, Page 3, Image 3
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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
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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
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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,"
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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
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^ A fi-ar oil
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of useful ti]
r students b1
4
all 1-800-JC
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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
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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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