What to Glean from SCU Report

Our generation is the most diverse in American history. Think about that for a moment — how truly revolutionary it is. In a nation founded by white Anglo-Saxon Protestants, we are the fullest realization yet of an old, timeless vision: Men and women of every race and creed are created equal and bring into the world inestimable value.

We are more multiracial than any generation that has come before us, more alert and aware of the possibility of difference, more eager to embrace what was once thought impossible. Our generation was in large part responsible for electing the first black president of the United States, and for that we should be forever proud.

But we are not perfect, nor will we ever be. Old prejudices and thoughtless bigotry still haunt us, as they did those who came before and as they surely will generations to come.

The findings of the Student Commission for Unity are, I think, conclusive proof of that. They reveal two things: that to some degree, many of us remain rooted in old intolerances; and that action is needed to promote greater diversity at Georgetown.

Who, here or anywhere, denies the importance of different points of view, different backgrounds, different ways of living and believing? Who denies that this conglomeration can strengthen a community — a university or a country — as well as an individual? I grant that diversity has become an emotionally charged word of late; this doesn’t change its necessity. I have never in my life learned much from a person with whom I agreed, or with whom I shared a similar background. It is those from other walks of life who have taught me the most.

As I was reading through some comments on The Hoya’s Web site, I was struck by one in particular that responded to the editorial “A Diversity Dilemma” (The Hoya, Jan. 30, 2009, A2): “[Diversity] is a slate [upon which each minority group] writes its own screed about being ‘wronged.’” What this frustrated remark reveals is a fundamental misunderstanding of the issue. Diversity is not a bludgeon to use against a majority; at its best, it is a demand for fairness and honesty in the face of narrow-mindedness.

But that same comment also reveals a need to tread carefully — we may all support a diverse community in theory, but in practical application, opinions diverge and nerves fray.

The question, then, is not whether we need diversity, but how we promote it. SCU’s recommendations contain much to praise, and much to think over. I, for one, do not believe you can engineer a more diverse campus with requirements, training or recruitment. Diversity is an appreciation for differences that comes only with time; it isn’t something you can mandate, any more than you can mandate faith, happiness or love.

Ordering that freshmen halls follow a strict racial ratio, requiring Student Activities Commission funds to be directed toward undefined diversity events, adding two more vague requirements to a loaded general education curriculum — these proposals overreach. They run the risk of being burdensome, heightening tensions and inadvertently spreading a shallow and superficial diversity born not from experience but artificially imposed from above.

Again, there is much to be said in support of SCU’s recommendations. Marketing the Bias Reporting System, encouraging resident assistants to arrange diversity-oriented programming on their floors, revamping New Student Orientation to include more emphasis on racial and socioeconomic, not only geographic diversity — these are all subtle, smart, unobtrusive ways of promoting a more inclusive student experience at Georgetown.

I suggest that GUSA reject the recommendations for instituting ratios in freshmen residence halls; for directing SAC money toward diversity events; and for creating two new general education requirements.

There are other ideas that may require thorough vetting, and vet them we should. When dramatic changes to the lives of students are at stake, GUSA must evaluate their merit. Rarely, if ever, is student government a smooth operation, but when many students passionately voice consistent objections to a proposal large or small, it is GUSA’s job to review the issue in question. This is a fulfillment of GUSA’s purpose; let’s hope it lives up to its potential.

By the middle of the 21st century, whites will have become a minority population in the United States. Blacks, Latinos, Asian-, Arab- and Indian-Americans together will for the first time outnumber whites. This is the determined work of time, the end result of 400 years of immigration and assimilation. Diversity, one way or another, is our destiny. It will not come easy, but neither will it be forced. And if we can find the right balance between ambition and restraint, between swiftness and moderation, we may yet boast that we helped Georgetown and our country along in that historic process.

Tyler Stone is a senior in the College, a GUSA senator and the GUSA Senate director for student life.

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