Death by Diversity: Securing the Success of Minority Students and Faculty Beyond Recruitment - Higher Education

Death by Diversity: Securing the Success of Minority Students and Faculty Beyond Recruitment - Higher Education: It is not unusual for colleges and universities to have aggressive diversity recruitment programs in place when it comes to students and faculty. After all, a blanket priority for schools is to have student and faculty populations that are as varied as possible.

Pardon my cynicism here, but who exactly do these recruitment programs really benefit? Successful recruitment in this regard creates a visual diversity that looks good on college brochures and websites, but it is only skin-deep. A recent episode of Modern Family referenced this visual diversity when oldest Dunphy daughter Haley made the following observation about a community college mailer she received:

“At least this one doesn’t have that fakie lunchtime shot of the Black guy, Asian girl and an Indian … oh, wait; there it is! Wow; that wheelchair kid is really cracking everybody up.”