Baruch Debates Diversity – 9/14/09
I went to this workshop with the rest of LC05 with the hopes of learning more about how diversity affects people on a personal level and what it means to be diverse. I was disappointed by this workshop because the speakers mostly talked about the history of how U.S. higher education institutions established more diversity and incorporated it into their program offerings. I could not personally relate to the topics that were discussed and still have no answer to the question of “What does it mean for me if I go to a diverse institution?”. How does diversity affect each student that is in a diverse institution? By being exposed to more diverse cultures, does it mean that the person is diverse? What about diversity on a more internal level (a melting pot of different personalities, different learning styles, different intellect) rather than diversity based on physical differences such as race and ethnicities? As a freshman, I did not find this workshop helpful at all. At this point in my life, I am still trying to define my own identity and the diversity within myself and my environment. This workshop would have been more helpful and interesting if the speakers talked about how diversity affects the students rather than the diversity of institutions as a broad topic.