To the Editor:

Re: “Enlightened, At Least From My Perspective,” Opinion, Nov. 4

Zach Murray’s ’10 statement at the program house panel, “white students don’t have to think about diversity,” was expressed as a result of what I deem a growing frustration that he, I and many other students of color on this campus feel because of the inability or lack of effort on the part of many — not all — of the majority white community at empathizing with the minority experience.

Last week’s panel on program houses, which was sponsored by The Sun and the aptly titled STUC, held the promise of reinvigorating our stale debates. Did it succeed?

In some ways, yes. The event allowed minority representatives to publicly articulate their concerns. Zach Murray ’11 noted the academic and social difficulties he faced as a freshman from a “90 percent black” neighborhood. As one of the few minorities in his dorm, he was not made aware of academic services or diversity resources. Ujamaa, he said, provided him with the support system, indeed the family, that would guide his undergraduate experience.

In Sun articles and columns, in recent protests and in meetings with senior administrators, a number of students have raised concerns about Cornell’s commitment to, and support for, diversity programs focused on our under-represented minority (URM) undergraduates.

We want to reassure all members of our community that a commitment to diversity goals and initiatives remains fundamental to Cornell’s mission. However, it is also important to acknowledge that, even as we pursue our goals, necessary budget cuts across campus have affected and will affect many programs. The impacts have not, and will not, disproportionately impact programs focusing on URM students.

What does it take for a group of people to be listened to — to be heard loud and clear? Riots, rallies, picketing and sit-ins are so ’60s. It is the age of Facebook groups, twittering and blogs; but it should not always have to come to such things.

Asian and Asian-American students now have a center on campus solely dedicated to their needs, after a nearly decade-long fight to get the University to allocate more resources to the Asian community at Cornell.

Located in 208 Willard Straight Hall, the Asian/Asian-American Center (A3C) officially opened this semester, though the center is considerably smaller than proponents had originally sought.

Temporarily, the center consists of a single office space and one conference room located within the Office of Student Support and Diversity Education.

Although the center now has a physical center and a staff member, students and administrators said there is still much room for improvement.

For the first time in Cornell’s history, the admit rate for the incoming freshman class dropped below 20 percent. After a rise in early admissions applicants in December, Cornell administrators projected an increase in the number of this year’s regular decision applicants, which reached an all time high of 34,381.

A Most Selective Class

The admit rate for the Class of 2013 fell to the unprecedented level of 19.1 percent. While Cornell admitted 36.68 percent of early decision applicants, regular admissions only accepted 17.2 percent of applicants.

In yet another example of the tension between “intellectual diversity” and “universal inclusion,” Cornell is currently atwitter over some controversial behavior by the Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship. Last week, news spread that Chi Alpha had asked one of its student leaders to step down because of his sexual orientation. The student had apparently succumbed to his homosexual urges and elected to live in sin with his boyfriend. Jesus would not approve.

Cornellians have since come out in droves against Chi Alpha. At a Student Assembly meeting last Thursday, everyone from Chris Basil ’10 to Dean of Students Kent Hubbell ’67 spoke out against the Christian group, claiming that rights had been violated and homophobia essentially endorsed by an SAFC-sponsored organization.

Cornell’s president, vice presidents and deputy provost stepped out of Day Hall yesterday at noon and spent an hour amidst the hustle and bustle of Ho Plaza to speak with students on issues of diversity as part of a week-long event called “Day Hall Talks Diversity.”

Questions such as “Is the percentage of whites higher among faculty, staff or students?” and “What percentage of Cornell faculty are women?” were posted on colored signs to facilitate conversations with some of the top administrators, including President David Skorton, Vice President for Human Resources Mary Opperman, Vice President for Student and Academic Services Susan Murphy ’73 and Deputy Provost David Harris.

This article is the first of a two-part series that examines the controversy surrounding program houses.

The timing of the current review of the program houses on campus has aroused some controversy. Students have feared that with the University constantly on the lookout for means of saving money, the program houses might be deemed an unnecessary expense. Joseph Burke, the director of residential programs, acknowledged that while many would view the timing of the review as suspicious, he said that the review was planned before the economic downturn.