Several recent occurrences on this campus have prompted the Editorial Board to tackle what could — even on the best of days — be deemed a difficult subject: ethnic diversity and racism at the University. Several events have characterized what can be described best as an outbreak of unrest.
First, the recent accusations lobbed at the College of Education. Students have made claims, yet to be investigated, of racist and discriminatory comments by professors in classrooms and have said the school has created or ignored a hostile environment for minority students. The number of requests by sources within the COE to remain anonymous have made it clear that the school is permeated with fear of retribution. That a school’s
climate could be so negative, with students afraid to speak out, clearly indicates an
egregious abuse of power.
We applaud the University’s choice to bring in Dr. Carlos E. Cortés, a professor from University of California, Riverside, to conduct an external review of diversity issues in the College of Education. We must take his suggestions seriously and not forget about this mess after the report is finished. Regardless of whether the independent review finds the allegations to be true, the students at the COE have felt uncomfortable, and this problem must be corrected.
Second, the Emerald’s documentation of the Office of Multicultural Academic Support’s enrollment restriction in certain classes, which reserves slots for racial minorities, has raised the ugly specter of what some have called reverse discrimination. Despite OMAS’ claims that the policy is strictly legal, we suspect the policy might be illegal, but not necessarily misguided, considering how minority students have felt in the COE’s general classes.
We hoped this academic institution had reached the point of colorblindness, but apparently the University is far less advanced than we thought. The situation with OMAS has highlighted the underlying racism in the University’s attempts to build a diverse campus on the foundation of a student population that is roughly 87 percent white.
Here in Oregon, “multicultural” is how we spin the question “what category of race do you fit into?” The options offered by the OMAS (“African-American, Asian-American/Pacific Islander, Chicano/Latino, Native American or Multiracial”) are so narrow that they verge on insulting anyone truly multicultural. This willingness to simplify such a complex issue shows the true problem; the University is willing to see racial minorities as tokens it needs to obtain and retain to create diversity. It’s like saying, “I need to find more Asian friends,” and not understanding why such an attitude would be insulting to Asians.
Finally, Greg Vincent, vice provost for the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity, has announced his departure from the University, and we cannot help but feel at a loss for hope in the matter of diversity. It is a shame to see the man charged with solving these issues leave. With him goes another step toward real work in resolving these problems.
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