Diversity of background usually means that a single person has a breadth of experience (many of us have this i agree), but thats not what the issue here is at all. We dont have diversity of background in the sense you mean because we all mostly come from the same type of family, with parents that push us to succeed academically. Whether we choose to admit it or not, skin color also really is the issue because it is heavily intertwined with socioeconomic status.

While I certainly agree with Marika that race is deeply entwined with socioeconomic status, I'm not at all surprised or bothered by the example you chose to demonstrate that we don't have diversity of background. Of course we come from homes with parents that push us to succeed academically. Every student at Uni is academically talented (if not, we wouldn't have gotten in) and obviously some of that will come from parental encouragement (or pressure if you want to call it that). In my opinion, pushing your child to take academics seriously is a hallmark of good parenting, and has nothing to do with either race or socioeconomic status.

Another thing to think about: does the mere presence of minorities or socioeconomically disadvantaged people really expose everyone to diverse cultures, backgrounds, and experiences? Obviously it helps somewhat, but is this only superficial? By the way, I also agree with Bethany--I feel that not only our environment but also our humanities classes expose us to foreign cultures to about as much of an extent as can be expected in a school.

I completely agree with Bethany. Why is skin color so important? Two people with completely different ethnicities can be very similar, and two white people can be at each others' throats.

Well, I would just like to say that there are many people at Uni from poorer backgrounds, they just don't like to publicize it. Also, Uni isn't meant to be a typical cross section of Champaign-Urbana it's meant to give children who are above all the other schools in Champaign-Urbana another option.

Rachel, you said: "just because Uni is supposed to be for the "academically gifted" doesn't mean that we can't have diversity, there is an overlap, because there are plenty of smart people of all different races that can come to Uni, so the fault is not only at Uni...the fault is at the Champaign-Urbana school district in general, and even beyond that, it's on school districts nation-wide." I would just like to say, good point.

Excellent point, Nile. But I think Uni's curriculum is very open to other cultures. What about African American Literature, Asian American Literature. In World Since 1945 we spent an entire quarter learning about Middle Eastern History. I remember focusing on African American Literature for a semester my Junior year. What people have to realize is that Uni was not established to be a racially diverse (there is a difference between racial diversity and diversity) it was made to take the best and the brightest, regardless of their race. I think that Bianca makes an excellent point. The fault lies with the Champaign-Urbana school district. It's not Uni's place to try to change things by taking not as qualified minorities over more qualified students. Uni should continue with minority counselors (including all minorites), beef up awareness and try to get out into the community, but making race an issue in admissions is, frankly, racism.

I agree with Bethany that Uni's curriculum is multicultural and open. And I agree with a lot of what she says in her column. But I also think that we, as a group of white priveleged students, don't really know the issues that minorities face, especially African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans. Bethany said previously, "It's not Uni's place to try to change things by taking not as qualified minorities over more qualified students." However, I think if this were not the case, we would have an all white and Asian school. I do think that there are flaws with the affirmative action program in that it does not look at socioeconomic status. But I also think that a color blind enrollment system, as I said in my column on school systems in Lousiville, would bring us back to largely segregated atmosphere, especially at elite schools like Uni. Minorities are at a large enough disadvantage because of institutionalized racism that affirmative action becomes a necessary means to an end; that end being diversity and multiculturalism. Most white students applying to Uni are granted the resources to study for the SSAT, involve themselves in extracurriculars, and do other things that help them in the admissions process. However, minorities are not as easily guaranteed those resources. So why should we automatically let in any white student who had a better score on the SSAT? They were given definite advantages throughout the entire admissions process.

I'm not gonna pretend like I really know much about this issue, but I agree that Uni has a multicultural curriculum, much more so in fact than at the public schools i was at before. I also think that white students like myself don't realize how race is never really an obstacle for them in day to day interactions. But I don't think that affirmative action is a good solution to the problem. Because then we just have a lot of majority groups whining about how some people only got in because they were a certain minority and they supposedly aren't even as qualified and they're getting a 'free ride' regardless of the fact that being white is in itself somewhat a 'free ride'. It just builds a lot of resentment. And many of these people who happen to be minorites are often very qualified, and it undermines them when people think they just got where they are because of their race. At Uni though, many people I've talked to have noticed that people of different races tend to be more likely to be friends that at some public schools where students tend to hang out more with their own race. So I guess it depends on what your personal definition of diversity is. Obviously though, some racial and socioeconomic groups are way underrepresented, and that's not good for anyone.

Personally I agree with Alan Liang's response up there (I've respected his views for the past 3 years) and I must add that it is my belief that racism is simply part of human nature. We see someone different from us, we just have prejudices against them. We like commonness. That's why we like to group together. Ever heard of "Asian Priiiiide"? or "Blacka United"? (ok maybe uni doesn't have blacka united) but in any case, I'm trying to say, that is just there. Deal with it, people. Just be polite, keep your thoughts to youself and DON'T express racism out loud, then everyone's happy.

I would like to follow up on, and add to, what Bethany has said. Uni is a place for gifted students, regardless of race, religion, socioeconomic factors, etc. As far as I am aware, the admissions commity does not look at race when making decisions about who comes to Uni. From this race-blind process, we get the variety of ethnicities that are present at Uni. What better way can there be to being people to Uni? We are a school for academically gifted student. That's why I came to Uni. I didn't come because I needed a more diverse range of students. Indeed, I was pleasantly surprised at the range of students. It is true that we can reach out to minorities in the Champaign-Urbana area and encourage them to apply to Uni. But to really make a huge change in the diversity at Uni, we have to change admissions. We have to make race a factor by installing quotas. And if that becomes the case, another type of discrimination is going to occur. Students who would otherwise make it into Uni may not just because they are one extra Asian or one extra of another race. As of right now, there is no discrimination (as far as I know) in the admissions process. The only way to keep the system unbiased while still encouraging diversity is to encourage minorities to apply. But that is as far as we can go before crossing the boundaries. Also, when Shara says that "most of our students are upper middle class, many of them children of professors or other upperclass professions", I would disagree. I know many students who are not children of upperclass professionals. Just because they don't flaunt it doesnt mean that they don't exist. You cannot make assumptions just because there aren't people talking about how they aren't well-off. That's their own private business. Diveristy is indeed an important issue, but still, academics should be a priority at Uni.

I have more to say. Skin pigment, race is important and having a whole bunch of people who don't understand it in the first place is not going to help the situation. It is important and you can't realistically question the validity of the existance of racial prejudices until you've dealt with it. Another question: is racism part of human nature and should we just deal with it, or ignore its existance or significance (from Nate) Honestly, I can't really argue as to the question of if racism is a part of human nature, because I have no clue, however I think being told to "deal with it" is completely out of line. Really, can you imagine if you had've told Malcolm X to "deal with it" can you fathom the response? I'm not going to "deal with it" because I don't have to, I'm not going to take racist comments and "deal with them" regardless of whether it's part of human nature or not. I'm not going to take institutionalized racism and deal with it, because I want and deserve that job just like the next white girl. Honestly, I think being told to "deal with it" is what has been fed to oppressed peoples historically and what always makes it in the history pages is when they don't. What Nate said about not expressing racist opinions is a temporary solution, because even if you don't express the thoughts, even if you don't say anything you still think them, and they always come out eventually and that's the problem, so the real solution is to question, attack, and eventually, hopefully eliminate these thoughts based off of the fact that they are not true. Of course, we're not going to make everyone in Uni un-racist (?), but we can always try to at least help out a bit. On another point (sorry) when Bethany states that it's not Uni's place, well in our mission statement it says one of our jobs is "to influence positively the larger educational community." So, yes, it is our job. No, we shouldn't admit "less qualified" minorities for the pure purpose to display some superficial diversity, but, honestly, I don't consider myself "less qualified", when I came into Uni I was just as qualified as my white and asian counterparts, and even if I wasn't, it was not on account of my race. See, that's a problem right there, every minority being accused of getting in on account of their race. I didn't get in because I was black, and being accused of that shows that we do have a problem at Uni (although I do have to question why this has to be proved in the first). Just because a white person will talk to a "Native American" doesn't mean we have perfect balance at Uni. Honestly, the social structure of Uni High students is not horrible at all, students of from all races generally get along and if they don't it usually doesn't have to do withn race, there aren't any racial motivated violent outbreaks, you know, its pretty cool, but all of this is really just on the surface, because there's still a problem. Still, even though you have plenty of friends who are from different races, you can hear racist jokes whispered in the halls, I have, and it even happens in the classroom, like, for example, a bio video about Tourette's Syndrome featuring the usage of an extremely racist word triggered an outbreak of laughter. It supposed to be funny right? Well, it's not, it creates an uncomfortable environment which is not conducive to learning. So, to be told, that Uni's just fine, is really ridiculous to me, because I can see, that it's not, I know it's not, and I've experienced proof that it's not. As a final point, Uni is only racially okay, if you can ignore your race, if you feel like you aren't being reacted to because of your race, but, honestly, I can't forget my race, you won't let me, society won't let me, and I won't let myself. I'm not going to leave my race at the front door of Uni when I come in everyday so that I can feel comfortable and ignore the fact that you are being blatantly racist, and that's that, so if we want people in Uni to feel comfortable about their race something has to change, and ignoring our race shouldn't be the change, it won't be the change, the change has to be with the students their comments, their actions, their reactions, etc. See, like Alan Liang said there really is no definitive solution to racism, it will always exist, but that doesn't mean that we should ignore it, or pretend it doesn't exist, or "deal with it" we just have to fight back and something will happen.