What Does it Truly Mean to Have a Diverse Campus? What does it truly mean to have a diverse campus? It's true, we have a faculty and a student body that doesn't represent the racial diversity of the community, the population the state, the nation or the population of the globe. But diversity doesn't just have to do with the student body. It also means that you should have a faculty and administration and course work that represents a diversity of people, their history, and their experiences. Regardless of the number of students of color, whiteness at UNI is privileged. Here on our campus we have a white faculty and white administrators followed by a mostly white student body. They are great teachers and students. But even so, these students, teachers and administrators generally share a common background - that of the white majority. This makes a difference in the coursework, activities, celebrations, and as Rachel said, in interactions. At Uni students in English classes learn mostly about European or white culture because the work of white poets and writers are focused on. In history, we learn mostly about Europe and what was important in the history of whites in the world. Even our holiday celebration this Friday will be based primarily on European culture. Even when there is a problem it is easier for white students to communicate with teachers with their problems - at least, as Rachel said, white students don't have to think about race when it comes to interacting with a teacher. People of color and their history and experiences and the significant contributions that these groups make to the world are mostly left out of what we learn at UNI. When you are in a school with mostly white students, teachers, administrators and culture and you are a person of color you get used to this fact but it never feels comfortable or right. IF we truly wanted to be a diverse school we would adopt a curriculum and help recruit more faces of color as teachers and administrators so that white students and students of color learn to appreciate the value that all people bring to UNI and society. Can you imagine going to a school where there were all African American teachers, principals and black authors in the text, and the history of Africa and Black Americans were emphasized, and there were pictures of great black people hanging on the walls and guiding our celebrations? Well, white students don't have to imagine what it might be like to attend a school in a climate where their history and experiences are clearly important. They have this. This is the privilege of being white. For Bethany and others who agree with her, it is a privilege not to see race as an important factor in everyday life. But as an African American, like my Latino, Asian American, and Native American friends here, I can only dream of such privilege. Only when our history and experiences are boosted to the status of whites will we have real diversity.