Diversity in Universities - A true one needed

AUTAR KAW

Letter to Editor
The Tampa Tribune
April 4, 2007

Webster's dictionary explains diversity as the condition of differing from one another. In the several editorials written on diversity of university faculty in the commentary section of Tampa Tribune of March 25, 2007, the authors meant well in defining their view of diversity but eventually the discussion and data provided was limited to the progress made in including African Americans, Hispanics, and females.

True diversity is begging us to address the gap between the rich and the poor. If death and taxes are the greatest equalizers, poverty is the greatest discriminator; and since we are predominantly Christian, we know that born into poverty is not by choice.

I can guarantee you that opportunities given to meritorious poor will create the most diverse student and faculty in any university and erase the undeserving stigma that one carries with the current equal opportunity policies.

May I suggest to the readers two well-written books on diversity: Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White by Frank H. Wu and The Trouble with Diversity: How We Learned to Love Identity and Ignore Inequality by Walter Michael. They make the point better than I can ever do.

CITATION: Autar Kaw, "Diversity in Universities- A true one needed", Letter to Editor, The Tampa Tribune, April 4, 2007, last accessed at http://autarkaw.com/Writersblock/diversity_university.html

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