Expounding on stereotypes and prejudices they have encountered on campus, UW-Madison students and faculty called into question the future of the campus' principal diversity program Monday at an All Campus Party forum.
Plan 2008, a 10-year initiative to increase representation and achievement of minorities on campus, has seven specific goals, according to Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at UW-Madison Ruby Paredes.
Among its goals, Paredes said, is ""the recruitment, retention and graduation"" of students of color, as well as an increase in minority faculty and staff.
According to the Plan 2008 documentary, only 10.8 percent of UW-Madison students were minorities in 2006.
""A sea of white folks can be scary,"" said Toni Johns, program coordinator for the Diversity Education Program at UW-Madison.
Plan 2008 aims to encourage diversity in class curriculum by including more multicultural education, according to Paredes. Students present said while diversity education can be an important step to erasing stereotypes, there are still certain experiences classes cannot touch.
""You can't just read a book about the ghetto and understand what it's like,"" said ASM Finance Chair Sree Atluru.
Students agreed one step to be taken is opening dialogues among both white and minority students.
""It's hard to find out about multicultural groups or events from the university,"" said UW-Madison senior Jarius King.
King added it is difficult to encourage non-minority students to attend events when invitations are sent only to minority students.
Darren Martin, a UW-Madison alumnus and a coordinator for the Pathways to Excellence program, said he thought efforts to increase diversity on campus would be more useful in working toward ""Plan 2018,"" considering Plan 2008 will conclude next semester.
""I'm proud of the efforts,"" he said, but added, ""Plan 2008 is over.""
