Opinion-Editorial: An educational case for diversity

Imagine a college sociology class studying urban poverty. Or a medical student planning to practice family medicine in rural Eastern Washington. Or a business student hoping for a career in international corporate management.

Now imagine these scenarios at two different kinds of universities. In the first university, teachers and students form a homogeneous community. From similar backgrounds, they bring similar experiences, assumptions, and perspectives. In the second, the community is diverse. An African American professor (say) teaches sociology students who reflect the broad spectrum of Washington's racial and ethnic make-up. An American Indian medical student is part of the conversation about rural medicine. The classm ates of the aspiring international-business student include recent immigrants from Mexico and Vietnam.

In which of these environments are students likely to learn more? Which will better prepare them for life in a pluralistic nation and a shrinking world?

Many people support diversity in higher education primarily on grounds of social justice. They want to open the doors of opportunity to those in our society who have been marginalized or excluded. But the case we want to make hereas educators responsib le for leading Washington's six public universitiesis the educational case for diversity, a case we believe is equally compelling and less widely understood.

To learn in the company of people different from oneself is to learn more richly, more deeply, and in more complex ways than is otherwise possible. There is first of all the sheer range of information: the things people know, the experiences they've h ad, by virtue of their differences. These are genuine educational resources, both in the classroom and in the more informal settings in which our students, faculty, and staff learn from one another.

As it broadens knowledge, diversity also spurs the testing and challenging of students' assumptionsa process essential to education. Of course, good books and good teachers have always done this. But the faces and voices of one's peers have an impact a ll their own.

Students in a pluralistic classroom see and hear, inescapably, that there are different angles on the world. Learning to see life (literature, history, law, the research enterprise) through eyes other than one's own; learning how to defend, and when to correct, one's own version of reality; learning how to carry on rational, civil discourse about differing beliefs and valuesthese are among the real educational benefits of diversity. These are also the skills and habits of mind we call critical thinking and informed imagination, qualities we rightly cherish in education, in the workplace, and in society.

There are many kinds of diversity. People may differ in religion, in geographic background, in age, in talents and interests, and in a hundred other ways. All these different perspectives have educational value, which is why college admissions officers have long looked beyond test scores and GPAs in putting together a student body.

For public universities in this country at this point in our history, race and ethnicity are important aspects of this larger diversity. Besides broadening students' perspectives and sharpening their minds, racial and ethnic diversity bring some very s pecific immediate benefitsbenefits not just for individual students but for the society our universities serve. When students have the chance to learn, first-hand, from and about and with people of other racial and ethnic backgrounds, they come away far b etter equipped to understand and carry on the great, unfinished American experiment in which we are all engaged.

We like to believe that we are educating leaders at our campuses. Today's college and university students are tomorrow's corporate heads, mayors and governors and legislators, doctors and lawyers, engineers, teachers, journalistsand, not least, citizen s. They will be filling these roles in an increasingly diverse society still wrestling with issues of race and ethnicity, and in a multi-national economy that does daily business with cultures all over the world. Should these students be educated in racia l and ethnic isolation?

Few people, we believe, would answer "yes" to that question. But there is a growing national debate about the best way to achieve diversity, whether in school or in the workplace. There are thoughtful and honorable people of all colors on both sides of this debate, though some on both sides would deny that this is so. Whatever the outcome, we want here to underscore, from our perspective as educators, what is at stake: the quality of the education we are able to give our students and the quality of th e leadership they will ultimately give the state. In our view, excellence in both these realms requires diversity on our campuses. ¶

The Council of Presidents

(In addition to UW President Richard L. McCormick, The Council of Presidents includes Marshall Drummond, president of Eastern Washington University; Jane Jervis, president of The Evergreen State College; Karen W. Morse, president of Western Washington University; Ivory V. Nelson, president of Central Washington University, and Samuel Smith, president of Washington State University.)