THE EDITORIAL BOARD
With the recent spike in enrollment and a more diverse student body coming in, the biggest issue seems to be creating an environment of acceptance and understanding. What good is having a more diverse group of students if it’s rampant with hate and ignorance?
With an editorial board that is overwhelmingly white, it’s hard to justify saying much about diversity on campus. Truth be told, it is not the place of the privileged to say how to fix this. It is, however, the responsibility of privileged people to help make a change in any way possible and most importantly: listen.
It is true that Fredonia’s campus is more diverse than the surrounding area. The racial makeup of the town of Fredonia is resoundingly white; 94 percent of the town is caucasian. The campus is more diverse than its surroundings, with 76.8 percent of Fredonia’s undergrad population reporting as white, according to the Fredonia website. This closely aligns with the national average of 73 percent, which would suggest that Fredonia is indeed a diverse community.
Diversity is evident on campus and in the resident halls. Opening your eyes and ears on campus will present you people of many different appearances and many different backgrounds. Diversity is apparent to the naked eye, but what is lacking is the breaking down of barriers and integration of diversity into different settings. While the campus is not far off from national averages with regard to racial diversity, the campus setting enables cliques to form in which diversity is lacking within groups. As a predominantly white campus group, The Leader is a part of the problem. Incorporating diversity into our staff is something that we strive for, but it is a goal we haven’t met with 87 percent of our eboard being caucasian.
Learning curriculum in the classroom is not the only important lesson that comes from an education. Education allows for individual growth through experience, and those experiences come from interaction with peers. Diversity in the classroom enables us to become more empathetic, more complex and more intelligent human beings. In a college environment, these are pertinent personal developments.
Fredonia’s mission statement includes, “Fredonia educates, challenges and inspires students to become skilled, connected, creative, and responsible global citizens and professionals.” Creating an experience which in turn molds connected, creative and responsible citizens is impossible without diversity.