Students speak up on campus diversity

Today many college campuses across the United States exert every effort to increase the racial and ethnic diversity of their student bodies.

Oftentimes, phrases such as "diversity" and "inclusiveness" can be found in the strategic planning goals of many universities, but with diversity being such an ambiguous concept, it can be challenging to clearly define, plan, and execute efforts that not only increase diversity in the physical sense, but that advance intellectual and ethical development as well.

According to Junior Architecture and Business Management major, Tiara Hughes, diversity describes a group of some sort. "In the case of a diverse group of people, diverse would not just be the ethnicities, but the perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences of people within that group." While Hughes feels that Drury is internationally diverse, she believes the community in which the university resides is not diverse at all.

Alex Dillard, senior international political studies major, on the other hand feels that the university and Springfield are both diverse and open minded, "but I don't think there are a ton of opportunities that allow people to show or experience different cultural and social experiences either," he adds.

Springfield, MO, with a population of over 100,000 is marked by a negative distinction that has caused the community and region to suffer a great deal.

President Todd Parnell, a native of Branson, MO, recognized this social problem many years ago and decided to be a part of the solution. "Growing up, I had no sense of what diversity even meant. As I pursued educational and professional opportunities beyond, I was amazed and disappointed with what my portfolio of life experiences lacked. My wife and I have been committed to assuring that our children never lacked that opportunity and exposure."

Though nestled in a homogenous community, Drury has become a catalyst in changing the region's cultural experience.

Since its founding on Sept. 25, 1873, Drury University is more diverse than ever. Its initial class of 39 students included seven Native Americans, just shy of 18 percent minority. Last fall, it surpassed that number with domestic minority and international students totaling 18.5 percent.

Although the university lags dramatically in recruiting minority faculty and staff, it is committed to doing better.

The new "anti-racism" training that will be offered in freshman Alpha classes this semester is a new and different approach to achieve a more inclusive campus. Edward Jones Minority Scholars, who make up a freshman class that is over 15 percent non-white, were asked by President Parnell to take initiative in educating the campus.

Sara Cochran, assistant director of the Edward Jones Center of Entrepreneurship, hopes that students will gain an understanding of the relevance of racial history in the United States and how it influences present day diversity concerns as well as become aware of the strategies for having conversations about disparities.

English professor Charlyn Ingwerson imagines an authentically diverse campus as wildly egalitarian: a place where people meet from a breadth of backgrounds and are not only in the same place at the same time, but are engaging in eye-level conversations.

Sophomore, Business Management major and President of DUDS (Drury University of Diverse Students), Sharri Bell hopes the newly renovated diversity lounge, which is located in the FSC downunder, will provide a space where diverse peoples can socialize and gather.

While some students are excited about the new space, others are unsure of the impact that it will have on the campus environment; its location seems to be the main concern.

Sophie Mann, a pre-med and fine arts sophomore from Germany says that "if the space isn't more open for everyone, it supports exclusion rather than inclusion."

Ingwerson emphasizes that the real work of diversity and inclusion takes place daily, in the small, but courageous acts of paying attention to each other. "That's how our souls get bigger, that's what inclusion's really about and yet it's never, ever done."