Vol. 38, No. 18

2-18-2004
By: Liz Cook

Ohio State leaders report on community diversity

Work must continue to ensure a diverse learning environment

The development and growth of educational diversity at Ohio State must continue with efforts to reach an even broader audience, members of the university’s Board of Trustees were told in a presentation to the Academic and Student Affairs Committee at the Feb. 6 meeting.

“Historically the focus of diversity at Ohio State has been directed toward the recruitment and retention of minority students,” said Mac Stewart, vice provost for the Office of Minority Affairs. “But increasingly, our quest for diversity should be considered a journey rather than a goal, one that continuously changes with better understanding.”

Stewart said progress can be difficult to measure, but national indicators and aggressive recruiting and monitoring prove that academic excellence and diversity can be jointly attained as prescribed in the university’s Diversity Action Plan.

Ohio State’s success has been noted in many publications and journals, including Hispanic Outlook, which ranks Ohio State 17th nationally in the number of doctorates awarded to Hispanics. Last year, the university ranked 37th. Stewart added that the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education recently ranked Ohio State highest among the nation’s 25 leading business schools in minority enrollment. Enrollment in the Max M. Fisher College of Business is 10.3 percent.

Christine Ballengee Morris, director of the university’s Multicultural Center, outlined the center’s short- and long-term initiatives.

“Diversity can be explored as everyone’s responsibility — students, faculty and community,” Ballengee Morris said. “Diversity education becomes a part of world-making, which is an important element for all fields of study and careers.”

The Multicultural Center offers four programs in the First Year Success Series that explore gender issues, race imagery, homophobia and cultural identity. Approximately 5,000 first-quarter students enrolled in one or more courses last year. Many other programs integrating student affairs with academic affairs are offered throughout the year.

“Our strategy is to be embedded in as many units and programs as we can,” Ballengee Morris said.

The Nationwide Diversity Leadership Transcript Program is a long-term approach that prepares undergraduates for leadership in a global society. The voluntary program incorporates academic courses, leadership and service opportunities, and programs that explore diversity. It is a model that many universities across the country are now adopting.

“Our charge is to integrate diversity in as many ways as we can to meet the needs of our students today and tomorrow, and through research in and out of the classroom,” Ballengee Morris said. “We do this through partnerships and collaborative practices.”

The direction of diversity based on demographic shifts and its future role in a broader community was outlined to the trustees by john powell, executive director for the Kirwan Institute for Race and Ethnicity and the Gregory H. Williams Chair in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties at the Moritz College of Law.

powell said that Ohio is not likely to experience significant shifts in its minority population and that Ohio State must look beyond its charge for a diverse institution and work toward developing a more equitable community.

“Numbers are not the whole game,” powell said. “They do nothing to define how the human landscape will change for Ohio State.”

He added that Ohio State has a broad commitment to diversity and that the Kirwan Institute will continue to work collaboratively.

“We will extend our relationships and practices with university and visiting scholars and researchers to deepen the understanding of racial and ethnic disparities and how to remedy them,” powell said.

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