The School of Journalism and Communication has finalized a diversity plan to encourage “social, political, cultural, economic and intellectual diversity,” according to the policy adopted Oct. 21.
Drawing from the University’s Five Year Diversity Plan, the document examines what steps for diversity are already in place as well as what can be improved or added.
Tim Gleason, dean of the journalism school, said that although he felt the school “had done OK” on diversity, he knew there was room for improvement.
The committee attempted to make a plan that would be useful and capitalize on areas where the school’s diversity efforts were already successful, Gleason said.
“That would also force us to kind of stretch and think of new ways to do things,” he said.
Gleason appointed a four-member committee last year to replace the school’s previous plan from 1993. He said the school decided to draft a new plan because diversity is understood and construed in different ways today.
Additionally, the Accrediting Council for Education in Journalism and Mass Communications (ACEJMC), the school’s accrediting body, mandates an effective diversity plan.
The journalism school is now moving through the re-accreditation process.
The diversity plan contains mostly guidelines, such as “The school will gather and analyze relevant data to determine benchmarks for our diversity efforts,” but generally it does not have action mechanisms.
The plan does suggest the formation of a diversity committee and the addition of a person to be designated the “diversity source” for students. Contact information will be printed on all class syllabi. This person will be the contact for anyone who feels uncomfortable or wants to discuss problems that arise in class or in their personal lives.
Debra Merskin, an associate professor who was part of the drafting committee along with Kathy Campbell, Carl Bybee and Leslie Steeves, said she was “certainly proud” of the plan.
“It’s a starting point,” she said. “It’s framed in a way that now a particular working group can look at it … and build in action steps.”
She said that although the plan itself was good, apathy is always an issue.
“It’s going to take buy-in from everyone,” she said. “It’s going to take education, learning why these issues are important, who they’re important to and why we should all care.”
Gabriela Martinez, an assistant professor who teaches international communication, agreed that the plan’s success depends on participation from members of the journalism school community.
“It takes work from everybody – from the students, from the faculty as well,” she said. “So far it has very good things, and it could be a very good plan for our school and for the overall University.”
During the drafting process, which ended at the beginning of this fall term, the committee sought outside advice from faculty members and graduate students.
“The entire faculty was involved in reviewing the drafts, and there were representatives from the student body,” Martinez said. “We all got to read two or three times before they finalized the draft.”
Scott Maier, an associate professor, said the plan will force the school to keep diversity in the forefront.
“Most importantly, it holds the school to a standard we must meet,” he said. “We all have good intentions, and then sometimes those good intentions go to the sidelines, but this plan puts diversity right up front where it should be.”
When asked whether the plan has an element of tokenism to it, Gleason said it does not.
“It is possible for that to happen, but I think the greater concern that I have is that in a society where questions of diversity are really at the core of much of what we do, we need to figure out ways to be more inclusive,” he said.
“We have to be very careful not to tokenize, to not engage in all the possible pitfalls in trying to achieve our goals,” he said.
He added that the school attempted to broadly define diversity while avoiding a “shopping list” of underrepresented groups, and he noted that the plan outlines a need to “build a diverse community defined by free speech, intellectual inquiry and a climate of respect,” which would extend to all students.
“I think our plan, in terms of its definitions of diversity, is very broad, very inclusive. … There are a lot of different aspects to this question of diversity,” he said.
He brought up a hypothetical example of an Evangelical student coming from a small Oregon town.
“We need to be really sensitive to the fact that this is a campus where that person is going to be in the minority, and make sure that … people do not feel that their points of view are dismissed,” he said. “The issue is no different in any instance; no matter who it is that walks into your classroom … everyone is going to bring a different set of differences.”
Although most students were unaware of the diversity plan’s existence, several said they thought it was a good idea.
Allyson Goldstein, a senior magazine journalism major, was one of the few who were aware of the plan. She thought there was definitely a need.
“We’re not very diverse right now,” she said.
She added that an ideal plan would be beneficial to students’ learning experiences.
“It would bring in different points of view to classes and the school,” she said.
Gleason said diversity should not exist as something separate but should be seamlessly integrated into all aspects of learning.
“These are not questions that are sort of over here in the corner that’s going to be the diversity corner,” he said. “These are questions that are integral to the whole teaching and the mission of the University.”

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