Monday, April 22, 2013

A student asks about diversity

Diversity is complex to me, as the root of the word comes from "divert," while the meaning means the opposite--to combine different elements of something.

Riffing off of Washburn University Diversity Initiative's definition: When it comes to diversity in people, I think of sensitivity first. We are each different, come from different cultures, background, beliefs, and we should each be sensitive to that fact. Along with the sensitivity, we should also agree that no one has the perfect definition of what diversity means. For example, gender identity would not be included in any definitions from fifty years ago, as the culture-at-large was not sensitive to such ideas. In general, if there is a definition I could add to diversity, it is the sensitivity to how people identify themselves, as well as not pushing definitions of identity onto others. However, the nice thing about diversity is that we are all Washburn students--diverse and complex.

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