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Diversity matters

By Gwenne Culpepper

Strangely enough, the word “diversity” can be somewhat frightening. Often people hear it and believe that emphasis on diversity means their own needs and interests will go unheeded. To some degree, that attitude is understandable.

Traditionally – and with good reason – diversity has been used in reference to the inclusion of women and people who are not Caucasian. That is, those groups that have not had equal access to the same educational economic resources as the majority.

But the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act brought to light that another group of people—those with mental, physical or emotional limitations—was being denied access as well. The fallout from 9/11 showed us that people with religious preferences differing from the mainstream were often discriminated against, as were those from specific foreign countries. So we’ve had to realize that diversity must be defined more broadly than in the past, to include respect for varying ideas and thoughts, as well as for race, gender, appearance and ability.

We’ve also come to understand that, more than ever, diversity matters. We need only look at the numbers to be sure: A 2000 study by Educational Testing Service in Princeton, N.J., indicates that total college enrollment will increase by 2.6 million students in the next 15 years. Eighty percent of them will be African American, Hispanic or Asian American. At the same time, white students will become a minority in Washington D.C., California, Hawaii and New Mexico.

A decade ago, UNI President Robert Koob determined that recruitment of students with diverse backgrounds would be a priority here. As a testament to his commitment, UNI’s minority student enrollment has increased from 472 in 1995, to 809 in fall 2004. The number of international students has risen more than 50 percent: 231 from 52 countries in 1995, to 378 from 78 countries today. An ever-increasing host of programs and initiatives campus-wide promote the respect and value of differences, including more and better accommodations for students with disabilities.

Koob has now charged the Office of Compliance and Equity Management (OCEM) with incorporating the faculty and staff population into those diversity initiatives. “The idea,” says Leah Gutknecht, assistant to the president for Compliance and Equity Management, “is to make the notion of diversity so commonplace and universal that no one has to stop to think about it. It will be integrated into the core of our culture. We believe that by addressing diversity as a timeless norm on our campus, UNI will be positioned to address the needs of our future enrollment and work-force demographics.”

To begin, Gutknecht pulled together a small steering team that included her; Ed Berry, associate vice president for Educational and Student Services (ESS), and me.

Our first task was to gauge campus attitudes, behaviors and ideas about diversity. We met with deans and department heads about their diversity concerns and needs. They indicated a high interest in continuing to recruit and retain diverse staff, and were interested in helping OCEM communicate to faculty and staff about diversity issues. The steering team also began seeking out success stories, past and current, for acknowledgement and promotion.

Next, OCEM staff asked members of the campus community for their help in developing a survey that would determine just where UNI’s faculty and staff stood in their beliefs about diversity. A series of meetings produced 51 questions.

We asked employees if they’d ever experienced or witnessed behaviors, language or activities that might be construed as discriminatory. We asked about accessibility to campus facilities, and beliefs about fairness in practices from hiring to promotion to termination. But we also asked participants if they thought diversity was a concept worth embracing, whether too much attention was being given to it, and whether the university ought to proceed cautiously in this area.

The UNI Center for Social and Behavioral Research is analyzing results now; we expect the work to be finished by early fall 2005, when we will share the information with faculty, staff and alumni.

While we wait, the steering team has identified “diversity champions” – those who are actively involved in the promotion of diversity – as well as those with the potential to be diversity champions. They will be among the first asked to collaborate on this effort. As Gutknecht says, “We’re not reinventing the wheel in this situation.” She is counting on collaboration and sharing across the campus to make this work. For example, the steering team is developing a diversity Web page; one that would note all of the university’s diversity efforts, from events to programs to research to experts who can talk about the subject. It will overlap with efforts conducted by University Marketing and Public Relations, the office that manages the UNI calendar site. “Care will be given to supporting, promoting and collaborating with existing efforts and resources, using available resources, avoiding duplication and reaching out to new faces and ideas,” said Gutknecht.

The UNI campus is rich in ideas, culture and diversity. Our belief is that there are significant benefits to be gained by pursuing diversity not just as a theory, but as an act. OCEM, acting with myriad offices and individuals on campus, will continue to seek ways to ensure that everyone on campus understands that diversity in 2005 is about inclusion of ideas, lifestyles, races, religions, abilities, socioeconomic classes, languages, employee status and age. It means everyone gets to sit at the table.

 – Gwenne Culpepper is associate director of the Office of Compliance and Equity Management.

Maintained by the UNI Alumni Association
Last Modified: January 25, 2006