Reflective Essay: Helping Diversity At The University

When I look at the area in which I work, I believe the university is ready for change. When I first started at the university, we had a diversity plan. In the diversity plan, we only assessed or reviewed the enrollment and retention rates of African-American students who were native citizens of Kentucky. I had the opportunity to work with other state institution representatives to develop a diversity policy, which was more inclusive. We defined diversity as follows:

Diversity, as a concept, describes an inclusive community of people with varied human characteristics, ideas, and world views related, but not limited, to race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, religion, color, creed, national origin, disabilities, socio-economic status, life experiences, geographical region, or ancestry. Diversity in concept expects the creation by institutions of a safe, supportive, and nurturing environment that honors and respects those differences. The policy “focusing on a diverse student body and workforce” advocates the inclusion of students and employees from historically underserved …show more content…
The true benefit is it allows them to be better prepared to work, live, and function in a global society. Even though there are barriers that prohibits diversity from occurring in some cases, we should not allow this to hinder the progress that has been made. There will still be a need to address oppression, racism, sexism, classism, and other injustices because of not understanding and addressing equity versus equality. For institutions to be held accountable, it starts at the top and should be a trickle down affect. We should not have to have other councils to hold us accountable for diversity metrics. We should do it because it is the right thing to