University faculty, students and staff gathered yesterday at the ninth annual Diversity Forum to discuss racial and ethnic diversity among the student body. The forum unofficially marks the end of Plan 2008, a 10-year-old plan implemented to increase diversity on campus.
Plan 2008 did not achieve its goals - o - othe level of diversity on campus is still unsatisfactory. Provost Pat Farrell, however, had a much more optimistic opinion saying significant strides in the diversity of the student body, staff, faculty"" have occurred in the last 10 years.
Yet, 2007 enrollment statistics paint an entirely different picture. Caucasian non-Hispanics comprise over 87 percent of the student body. The total percentage of minority students only increased 1.3 percentage points from 2006 and overall enrollment numbers have since increased.
If university officials intend to truly improve the campus community's diversity, they first must admit the failures of Plan 2008 and go back to the drawing board.
As admirable as the intentions of the forum were, speeches and breakout sessions are not bold enough steps toward improvement. Other Big Ten Universities, including Michigan and Penn State, recently instituted diversity plans that implement curriculum changes and foster a more comfortable environment for minority students already enrolled. Because of ""A Frame Work for Diversity at Penn State,"" it is now second in the Big Ten after Michigan and tenth in the nation in graduation rates of African-American undergraduates.
Plan 2008 must be viewed only as an example of what does not work. Its failure affirms UW-Madison must allocate the funds, do the research and implement a program that will make significant strides like those made at peer institutions.
