Diversity

Diversity is something that many businesses, corporations, and institutions try to achieve. A large importance has been placed on this word throughout the world, and yet it is a word where the boundaries one tries to apply to it are usually not correct. In recent years Penn State has rustled wrestled with this word in trying to make themselves a more diverse school. With this decision, the school has begun to implement new changes to help aid in this process, such as accepting more minorities and also adopting new curriculum. There are many ways a school can be diverse, and also many definitions which can be used to try to describe diversity, yet many people place boundaries that are too tight. Now with this large focus on trying to become diverse Penn State is trying to create a definition of what diversity means. Diversity means in general to differ or to have a variety, yet this needs to be further defined. Diversity goes beyond just saying to differ in race or culture; it means to differ in anything, such as knowledge. Diversity simply means a point in which two or more things differ, whether it be ideas, people, cultures, religion or skin color, it does not matter.

Possible counter-argument: all difference? Or just differences among persons?

Diversity is something that many different institutions are trying to create due to what they feel they are lacking. People have so often tried to create boundaries on a word that the more you confine it, the more you fall away from its meaning. ?? Diversity is a word that exists in today’s world on its own, there is no need to try to create it.

Taken in its best definition, it is how we are able to separate ourselves from others. It is how we all differ in ways such as hair color, political allegiance, race or even sexual preference. We are not able to constrain the word to a single thought or difference, but must allow it to include all things imaginable.

When looking at the word diversity, the first thought into many peoples mind is the difference in race, such as African American and Caucasian. For example when people want to see whether a school, such as Penn State, is diverse they look at the racial makeup. This definition though is a one sided definition and does not encompass all the aspects of the word. It goes further and can be a difference in nationality, gender, age or even disabilities. People come from a variety of different backgrounds and cultures and make a large mixture of different people. So when people look at how Penn State consists of a majority of white students, they wonder how it can be considered diverse. On average, Penn State has roughly 80 percent of white students that attend the school. Due to Penn State’s lack of racial makeup, ?? I think you mean its lack of racial diversity! Penn State often tries to constrain the word diversity to mean the difference in race. As defined earlier, diversity is not based solely on ones race, but the difference in ones religion or culture can simply mean that they are diverse. We consider the Irish and English to be quite diverse and they are both white, yet they have a completely different culture and nationality and therefore are diverse. While we do not want to define the word diversity by the difference in racial makeup, it is important that we do have a mix in race in a place such as a school.

When institutions speak of diversity, most of them mean they want a mixture of people, such as a difference in race or nationality. Diversity is not bound to the mix of people though; this is simply a misconceived definition of the word that is often used. It can also include the difference in ideas or thoughts. One example of this is the diversity of knowledge available at schools. So it can include a difference of knowledge, not only from this country but from all over the world and a mixture of different courses. For example, you can look at the course Calculus 1 offered at Penn State. You will notice many different options, such as the regular course and then variations like a focus on engineering or even an honors course. Also, instead of learning just about United States cultures we now offer international courses that have a larger focus on the happenings around the world. Due to recent changes in the curriculum we are able to have a larger variety of courses that we can offer, and we can allow students to gain a greater knowledge base about the world they live in.

Because diversity is such a difficult word to define, the easiest way is to apply a loose definition to it that is broad and all encompassing. Diversity means to differ. So two things need to be different, whatever they are does not matter, a variety needs to exist. The word diversity is not bound to the difference in race, or the difference in people, but includes all things tangible and intangible. So while Penn State claims that it wants to become diverse, it does not understand that the differences that exist in their students and courses already make them diverse.

They are looking at the stereotypical definition and trying to create a larger racial makeup or bring different people to their schools, because this is what society believes to be diverse. Society simply has constrained the word diversity to mean something short of its true meaning. So, with this new definition, Penn State should strive to become diverse in all areas and not to focus on one, this will allow us to truly become a diverse school.