New students this year – who come from all 50 states and 37 countries – will not have to fulfill a diversity requirement.
The difficulty of finding appropriate, worthwhile events led university officials to remove the Essential NU component from the load of freshmen orientation courses. The decision followed a discussion among Dean of Students Mary Desler, the Office of the Provost, the student transitions coordinator Jen Meyers and University President Henry Bienen.
“It was a matter of not always knowing if a program was fulfilling the requirement,” Meyers said.
Since fall 2003, freshmen were required to attend one of several events addressing the tolerance of different cultures. NU administrators had to approve the event.
Events such as the annual Multicultural Center’s Diversity Symposium, Martin Luther King Jr. Day observances and a speech by James Turner, who led the 1968 protest on NU’s campus that resulted in the creation of the African American Studies department and the Office of African American Student Affairs, popularly known as the Black House.
Formerly, students who did not meet the diversity requirement could not register for Spring Quarter classes.
But skepticism abounded over the quality and appropriateness of some of the programs qualifying for the diversity requirement.
“You have to ask, ‘How educational is it?'” Meyers said.
Student Affairs evaluated the diversity requirement in November 2004 after a Oct. 7, 2004 speech by former Illinois Congressman Paul Findley sparked concerns among students. Some freshmen students believed Findley’s comments in the lecture entitled “The Truth About Our Failed Middle East Policy: Dare to Speak Out” were anti-Semitic.
Re-evaluation of the diversity requirement coincided with President Bienen’s desire to emphasize common experiences among classes. To bridge one experience among the incoming students, the Class of 2009 was asked to complete two summer reading assignments in preparation for a lecture from philosophy Prof. Kenneth Seeskin at the President’s Convocation on Sunday. His speech related the origins of the earth to the beginning of the college experience.
Some peer advisors said they did not know how much students took away from Prof. Seeskin’s lecture because many freshmen either did not look at the readings or finish them.
Peer advisor Ryan Vogt said he didn’t think the issue of whether freshmen were prepared for the Convocation speech mattered.
“Diversity is something you have to learn yourself on a college campus,” the Medill junior said. “No one can force it on you.”
Other returning students said the diversity programs did not make much of a difference in their orientation.
“I saw Candace Bushnell for my diversity requirement,” said Weinberg junior Ashlee Cassman. “That’s not very diverse.”
Peer advisor Mary Wehner said her advisees will not suffer from the cancellation of Essential NU’s diversity requirement.
“Kids aren’t going to learn (diversity) from a lecture,” the McCormick junior said. “They’re not going to take anything away from it.”
Reach Christina Alexander at [email protected].
