No Diversity on “Diversity”

In observing how diversity is handled at today’s university campuses, one can’t help but notice the lack of diversity – of opinion – among faculty and administrators who focus on diversity issues. There is a certain mindset, and accompanying language, underlying virtually all discussions of campus diversity (with a few notable exceptions). Diversity is defined and measured in terms of race, gender, disability status, sexual orientation, and (now) sexual identity. Differences of opinion, especially on strategies and policies related to diversity, such as trigger warnings and safe spaces, are actively discouraged.

Even Wheaton College, the conservative evangelical Christian school under fire for its treatment of Larycia Hawkins, has its diversity officers, diversity committees, and other institutions that sound exactly like their counterparts at secular public universities. According to a memo written and distributed by Wheaton’s Diversity Committee on Faculty Governance, Wheaton’s investigation and paid suspension of Hawkins for her public statements on Islam are not really about doctrine or theology: “the scope or formality of the inquiry—along with the failure to calm down over-wrought alumni and donors seems to have been an absorption of raced, gendered, and fear-based over-reaction from outside audiences.”

A news report describes Wheaton’s existing diversity programs:

The school’s Board of Trustees, which is slated to make the final decision about Hawkins’ employment, called for a new plan to deepen ethnic diversity in 2012. A public strategic priorities document at the time noted that “many members of the Wheaton community continue to express a lack of understanding concerning issues of ethnicity and culture, as well as the theology behind current initiatives to promote diversity among students, faculty, staff, and administration on campus.”

The plan also noted that more must change than simply increasing the number of people of color on campus. “It is crucial to create safe and positive experiences for students, faculty, staff, and visitors of all racial and ethnic backgrounds,” the document asserted. “This necessitates intentionality and expertise on campus and through outside review.”

Hawkins told TIME that the Diversity Committee’s memo “raises significant issues in myriad areas of diversity that all academic institutions need to address in a substantive fashion. Wringing our hands about racist, misogynistic, and heterosexist actions on campus is not enough.”

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3:13 pm on February 5, 2016