There is perhaps no word that strikes more fear into the hearts and minds of Cornellians as “diversity.” For teachers, one errant comment or controversial reading assignment could mean the difference between employment and blacklisting from the academic community. For students, up to four years of diversity training, with the ever-present threat of a bias report, leaves people at best wary and at worst resentful of attempts at making them more accepting. Seemingly oblivious to these realities, Cornell has nevertheless created a Diversity Council to once again tell us what horrible people we really are.
In The Chronicle article announcing the inception of the Council, Vice Provost Biddy Martin stated that Cornell was committed to “fostering a climate that encourages active engagement and learning across differences, not passive tolerance of diversity.” What is active tolerance for diversity? If I jump in my car and drive around looking for people with which to have a dialogue (“You, walking into Trillium. Get in my car, I want to have a talk about our differences!”) will that finally make this school happy?
During an open forum with the Council two weeks ago, David Harris, vice president for social sciences, touted the fact that this Council is not seeking diversity for public relations purposes. However, the very existence of this group promotes the idea that acceptance can only happen through grandiose gestures to certain liberal-approved groups. As exemplified in last year’s stabbing incident, someone who puts on a show of inclusion and acceptance does not necessarily believe it in his heart, and this mindset succeeds only in rewarding them for the self-important display.
The ironic thing about this display is that money being used to talk about diversity could actually be put to better use. Perhaps use the thousands of dollars spent redesigning the diversity website, and provide a scholarship to a child who otherwise couldn’t afford to attend Cornell. Take away the salary of the vice provost for diversity for a year, and send multiple kids to an Ivy League institution. But I guess that type of active engagement is too tangible and useful, and those kids would not be as easily packaged in press releases as a full council on inclusion can be.
Yet if we, as a student body, do not actively suspend our schoolwork and seek out some form of pre-approved diversity, we are seen as institutionally bigoted. Over the course of the same meeting, an audience member noted how few students were in attendance. Simply put, we have homework. We have class during the day, and we have large amounts of work on the weekends. As much as this school wishes it were not true, we as students came to Cornell to receive an education in a field of our choosing, and that often takes precedence over making the vice provost for diversity feel better about his job. If Robert Harris, vice provost for diversity and faculty development, could write a note excusing us from class to learn about other cultures, something like, “Please excuse Susie from her prelim, she had to actively engage in some dialogue,” then maybe you would start to see attendance rise.
The fact that somebody within the administration most likely read the last joke and thought it was a good idea brings us to another point. This constant repetition regarding Cornell’s apparent shortcomings on diversity is running the risk of reaching some while alienating many more. At a certain point, most students who only have time for passive tolerance due to the aforementioned reasons will begin to actively resent the fact that they’re not being left alone. Cornell can make a show of apparent tolerance, but acceptance is a much more delicate topic to broach. Many students like to quietly explore the world, and the constant repetition of dialogues and appeals are leaving them intimidated, burnt out and frankly, scared to make a wrong move.
There are solutions to some of these issues, although they are surely not what the Diversity Council is looking to hear. There is simply no better way for us to learn and understand our fellow students from different cultures than by living in the same building with them. There are currently hundreds of Cornellians living in self-imposed segregation who could be doing far more for their cause by actively engaging (there’s that phrase again) their fellow students on a day-to-day basis. Real and honest discussions of differences do not occur during University-sponsored dialogues. They happen in the TV lounge of a dorm in the middle of the night, or while helping take care of a sick hallmate. By forcing students to work together in order to live comfortably, this school would be promoting the diversity it so craves in an economically and socially effective manner.
Unfortunately, pragmatism is not Cornell’s strong point, and the answers staring them in the face will not be used. Over the next year, there will be dialogues and appeals from the Diversity Council on how to further accentuate our differences. Suggestions, most likely involving the diversity showcase we’re forced to sit through as new students, will be sent to President Skorton for his review. These actions will garner a lot of press in The Sun, and more Cornellians will be turned off by the idea of learning about their fellow students. They will put their heads deeper into their books, further shutting themselves off so that they cannot hear the self-congratulatory praise of a university too fixated on talking about change to actually implement it.
Megan Sweeney is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at mps65@cornell.edu. The 700 Level appears alternate Mondays.