“Diversity” is quite a tough subject to tackle at Davidson. There are those who feel discriminated against, even on our relatively open and friendly campus. There are also those who feel that crying discrimination inside the confines of zip code 28035 is something akin to crying wolf. There are even those who share tired arguments about a “diversity of interest.” In my four years at Davidson, I’ve heard these opinions time and time again, and I’m sure the SGA “voices” campaign will repeat all of them once more.
When it comes to racial diversity, Davidson finds itself in a very interesting place. Davidson ranks the lowest in percentage of students of color when looking at the US News’ list of the top ten liberal arts colleges. Students of color make up 25 percent of Davidson’s student body, compared to 37 percent at Williams or 39 percent at Amherst. However, Davidson looks a lot better when stacked up against Haverford’s 29 percent or Carleton’s 27 percent. On the other hand, when compared with our regional peers, we are unmatched in racial diversity. Our percentage overtakes Furman’s 17 percent or Wake Forest’s 16 percent. Davidson, as always, seems somewhere in the middle between elite liberal arts college and small, yet strong southern school.
Despite its racial diversity identity crisis, Davidson excels in one area in which both our academic and regional peers consistently fail: integration. While Duke, Pomona and Swarthmore may be diverse on paper, you’ll be hard-pressed to find latino students sitting at the same dining hall tables as white or black students. Davidson avoids this problem to some extent; it is a place where students of different backgrounds spend time with one another. The A Team for Shades of Brown currently includes four white students. The Generals and Delilahs both have students of color in their organizations. We have the ACAA, BSC, OLAS, and GSA within the alphabet soup of organizations whose sole purpose is to raise awareness for diversity on this campus. They are tremendously successful at providing general debate on campus; however, organizations without that goal have similar success stories and, perhaps, have won the greater victory of effective integration. Without integration, “diversity” means nothing. Unless we integrate ourselves racially, we will not learn from our differences. Davidson students, unlike some of our peers, understand that.
Therefore, I propose three ways to improve the “diversity” of Davidson without harming our integration. First, we must not rely on “cultural awareness” associations, lectures, or SGA mandates. Those who agree with prevailing thoughts on the importance of racial diversity attend these programs, yet such programs only galvanize the naysayers against integration. While the voices campaign has the admirable goal of making sure everyone feels comfortable at Davidson, many people have already tuned out and written it off as “another one of those diversity things.” We already have so many wonderful diversity programs like STRIDE. We do not need new ones that will not reach those who do not want to be reached.
Second, we must bolster our admission office’s ability to recruit the best students of color. We must provide more funding for the Davidson Trust. I firmly believe that has become the battlefield for colleges and universities. Those schools that can offer students the opportunity to graduate debt-free will win the war for the most qualified students, especially those who come from lower socio-economic backgrounds. We must continue to raise money for it and scholarships like the Charles scholarship or the newly-minted Alvarez scholars program that provides incentives for international students and students of color from the Chicago public school system to attend Davidson. More diversity programming will not draw minority students to Davidson, scholarship programs will.
Finally, we must revamp our cultural education at Davidson. The college created the cultural diversity requirement at a time when there was not that much cultural diversity at Davidson. We must continue that spirit within all academic life at Davidson. As the college moves more and more to interdisciplinary courses, we should continue in the same vein with our cultural diversity courses and consider partnering coursework in the classroom with organizations outside the classroom. Imagine a class on Colombian politics taught by a poli sci professor in conjunction with Colombian members of OLAS explaining public opinion in the country as they see it. If students have to take a cultural diversity class like those I have proposed, they will not be able to turn a deaf ear to diversity issues on campus. Furthermore, those who recognize the importance of racial diversity can learn more from a course-club partnership than any lecture series or Davidsonian campaign.
Now, my opinions may anger some and impassion others. “What does he know? He’s a White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant male who has never felt what it is like to be in the minority.” That is true. However, I don’t pretend to speak for the minority. I don’t pretend to speak for the majority either. While I am a white southern male, those are only parts of my greater identity. I’m also redheaded. Most of all, right now, I’m a Davidson student. Davidson will face trials in the near future dealing with racial diversity. The Davidson student in me wants to help provide solutions to those problems, so that Davidson may transcend those issues and take its place as the exemplar of diversity among the elite of liberal arts colleges. We can only do so with informed debate and suggestions outside of the norm when dealing with race. These are mine. I look forward to hearing yours.
Chris Marsicano ’10 is a political science major from Charlotte, NC. Contact him at chmarsicano@davidson.edu.
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