For some reason, for some people the proper measure of “diversity” (how do you know when you’ve achieved it?) is proportional representation. Although there is a widespread reluctance to admit devotion to this principle, it’s not hard to spot.
Take this column by Elizabeth Strother in the Roanoke (Va.) Times (No, you take it.). To make her point, Strother relies on a kindred devotee of the proportionality principle, Ben Dixon, Virginia Tech’s vice president for multicultural affairs (what other kind of affairs are there?), who is quoted in the following paragraphs.
“I’d say, ‘We’re a majority white institution,’ but one that is diverse. One of the benefits are the experiences our white students get — the skills they get for the workplace that give them a competitive edge in the global economy.”
Tech, he acknowledges, has far to go itself to become truly diverse.
“We’re about 5 percent or so African-Americans; Hispanic, 2 percent or less; Asian-Americans are 6 point something percent. If you add it all together, plus Native Americans, we’re in the double digits.”
“But common sense tells you if over 19 percent of the commonwealth of Virginia’s population as a whole are African-Americans, it’s not rocket science to understand, with 5 percent on the campus, there’s a little bit of a disparity there.” And that hurts everyone.
“We’re not a regional university. We’re an international university,” a point that makes Tech’s current makeup look even worse. Whites are barely a majority in the United States anymore; in the world, they are a minority.
Exactly how does the “little bit of disparity” hurt everyone? Does it hurt the whites, Asians, etc., who would not be at Virginia Tech at all if the places they now occupy were taken by enough preferred blacks to bring the black representation up to “parity” with the black population of Virginia? Would the blacks now at Tech get a better education if there were more blacks there?
But forget Virginia. If the proper standard for acceptable “diversity” is proportional representation of the world’s population, shouldn’t there be far, far more Chinese and Indian students at Tech? Indeed, since American blacks hardly make up 5% of the world’s population, maybe there are too many blacks (as well, of course, of whites) at Tech now.
Finally, if “diversity” provides its beneficiaries with a better education, if that is what provides students with “a competitive edge in the world economy,” isn’t Virginia Tech doing a disservice to all applicants by not recommending that they attend the University of Virginia instead? After all, “underrepresented minorities” (blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans) make up 13% of the undergraduates at UVa.
I’m so sick of whites attending a university being seen as a problem. And for VA Tech to start acting like it is now time to recruit based on the world’s Census, when they are a VA, American institution, that’s really annoying (of course, if the world was 90% white, they wouldn’t have said that).
The only time universities are concerned about whites who attend or are alumni is when it is time for donations or when it is time for the propaganda war to get whites to not vote out affirmative action.
If the employees of the State of Virginia want to worry about the diversity of its universities it should start with the Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
First the universities directly supported by the state
Virginia Union
Student Body
Enrollment:-4,278
Female:-61%
Out of State:-32%
African American:-96%
Asian:-0%
Caucasian:-2%
Hispanic:-1%
Native American:-0%
Admission Stats-
Freshmen Returning for Sophomore Year:-72%
Freshmen Graduating in 4 years:-18%
Freshmen Graduating in 6 years:-44
Norfolk State
Student Body
Enrollment:-5,810
Female:-62%
Out of State:-31%
International:-1%
African American:-92%
Asian:-1%
Caucasian:-4%
Hispanic:-1%
Native American:-0%
Admission Stats-
Freshmen Returning for Sophomore Year:-71%
Freshmen Graduating in 4 years:-10%
Freshmen Graduating in 6 years:-27%
Students Going to Graduate School Upon Graduation:-7%
Then the universities that are indirectly supported by the State
Hampton University
Student Body
Enrollment:-5,235
Female:-64%
Out of State:-69%
African American:-96%
Asian:-1%
Caucasian:-4%
Hispanic:-1%
Native American:-0%
Admission Stats-
Freshmen Returning for Sophomore Year:-85%
Students Going to Law School Upon Graduation:-2%
Students Going to Medical School Upon Graduation:-10%
Students Going to Business School Upon Graduation:-5%
Students Going to Graduate School Upon Graduation:-40
By any measure of diversity the hbcu’S have to be the least diverse universities in the State of Virginia.
Now if diversity is so important that white students need to be exposed to it to function in the world that Virginia Tech needs a separate and unequal admission process then why shouldn’t the HBCU’s start their own diversity programs? It just might be that the African-American community really does not care about diversity but really only cares about lowering the bar for itself
Superdestroyer writes:
>>>”Now if diversity is so important that white students need to be exposed to it to function in the world that Virginia Tech needs a separate and unequal admission process then why shouldn’t the HBCU’s start their own diversity programs? It just might be that the African-American community really does not care about diversity but really only cares about lowering the bar for itself”
If the majority of anti-affirmative action types viewed Virginia Union, Norfolk State and Hampton as “elite public ivies”–schools from which a degree, in their opinion would distinguish the recipient from other graduates you’d see a heckuva lot more protests from them about the “paucity” of whites on their campuses.
–Cobra
Really, the silliest part of this is the now cliched defense of diversity:
“One of the benefits are the experiences our white students get — the skills they get for the workplace that give them a competitive edge in the global economy.”
Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether people discussing political issues — which AA is, of course — cynically say these sorts of things because they know their real arguments would sound bad, or whether they really believe this stuff. Do they really think that having more black people at VaTech has anything to do with the success of other students “in the global economy”? Does having been around an American black in college somehow help one sell one’s products in Africa? Knowing something about African languages, culture, or history, perhaps — though how much business is one going to do in the economic nonpowerhouse of Africa, anyway? — but of course being around American blacks, whether they style themselves “African-American” or not, is irrelevant to that.
If the majority of anti-affirmative action types viewed Virginia Union, Norfolk State and Hampton as “elite public ivies”–schools from which a degree, in their opinion would distinguish the recipient from other graduates you’d see a heckuva lot more protests from them about the “paucity” of whites on their campuses.
As usual, Cobra, you miss the point: why aren’t there protests from the pro-affirmative action types about these schools? Think how badly “everyone” is being harmed by the lack of diversity at these schools.
Cobra,
Thank you for confirming that diveristy actually means nothing when it comes to actually learning. If diveristy really meant a better education for everyone then the black elected leaders in Virginia would be demanding that Norfolk St start a diversity program and go out and activity recruit whites, hispanics, and asian students. Norfolk st would insisit that all of its students take a foreign language and study aboard.
However, the actions of black educators as HBCU’s reveals who the black community actually feels about diversity.
It’s all such a shell game. AA is a political sacred cow tied to funding. VA Tech is as much about money and status as it is education. They have to dance on the edge of PC to stay in the money flow. In the workplace the issue gets sorted out fast––if you have the ability to make money for a company it doesn’t matter if you’re green or orange. But in the artificial, academic environment it’s perfectly acceptable to discriminate against any individual in order to achieve statistical correctness. And like good politicians, they keep finding grand reasons to explain why the hopes and dreams of some hard-working students are dashed in favor of less qualified applicants of some other color. The color themselves can change––it’s the political posturing that never changes.