Calls for diversity must come to grips with unity, education

By Nazaret G. Maltchayan

It is fair to say that the issue of diversity has dominated the
pages of the Daily Bruin for the last few weeks. The last issue of
the Winter term, for example, included eleven articles on the
subject. Since then, diversity and related subjects have appeared
more frequently than any other topic. Some subjects have included
admissions policies relating to outreach or affirmative action and
the ethnic background of new students. They have also addressed
proper ways to deal with these issues; for example, whether to
institute amendments to the the Code of Conduct or an ethnic
studies course as a preventative measure against “hate
incidents.” In The Bruin’s national and international
news coverage, racial and ethnic questions are often at the
forefront as well.

It is clear that UCLA takes this issue very seriously as well.
There is hardly a gathering, publication or museum exhibition that
does not include diversity in its presentation. The chancellor is
often quoted on the subject. This intense concentration has led me
to wonder if, in fact, there is an inherent importance to this
subject in proportion to the number of articles that have focused
on this issue beyond reactions to certain issues. Some include the
reported assault in March on an African American woman by a white
man and, about the same time, several acts of vandalism in and
around the offices of minority student organizations in Kerckhoff
Hall.

I certainly sympathize with the outrage that has been expressed
regarding these incidents. I also find myself considering some
issues that rise out of a case like this. Why does ethnic and
racial identity elicit such ardent concern from so many of us? Do
these issues constitute the very core of our sense of self? And, is
this the one kind of diversity that matters above all others?

Like many here, I too am a foreign-born U.S. citizen. The issue
is of vital importance to me.

Must we be surrounded by people just like us in order to lead
successful lives?

That, precisely, seems to be the position taken by some. The
argument goes like this: the violence aimed at minority students
(as cited above) is the inevitable outcome of the “dismally
low” number of such students on campus; which, in turn, is
the result of the repeal of affirmative measures in UCLA’s
admissions policies. Thus UCLA is a “hostile environment to
people of color, women and members of the … gay …
community” (Katynja McCory, Viewpoint,
3/13). Others, more plausibly, have cited feelings of fear,
frustration, ostracism and even “racialized” or
“politicized” hatred.

Can the rate of reduction itself of minority students at UCLA,
where about 35,000 students, along with a substantial number of
professors, administrators and maintenance personnel go about their
daily work, be held accountable for the “hostile
environment?” Perhaps some are inferring a position by the
University from its repeal of affirmative action when none is
implied.

A university composed of as many varieties of people has to
strive to locate the constantly shifting point of maximum inclusion
and representation so that equality of opportunity and equitable
treatment of all coexist amicably.

How then can we respond to the feelings of ostracism experienced
by minority students? Though the reported acts of open hostility
are, fortunately, few (six during 1998 and five since the Fall of
1999 according to the Angela Davison,
Viewpoint, 5/26), ostracism has proven to be a more insidious
problem.

Yes, the very process of growing up forces us to distance
ourselves to some extent from our early beliefs; a painful
transition for any but the most callous or clueless. And yes, most
if not all previous newcomers to this country’s mainstream,
including Europeans, have passed through a transitional phase of
discrimination and outright mistreatment. But that does not deal
with the problem in the shorter term. Greater sensitivity on the
part of most of us is called for.

We need to remember that misapplied words can be as injurious as
acts of vandalism on office walls. Words are defined, I submit, by
the listeners as well as the speaker. Continual reconsideration of
our self-expression constitutes, I believe, an important part of
our membership in a democratic social order.

Some have proposed to establish an atmosphere of
“intolerance for hatred” by means of activism on the
part of both students and faculty. Others insist that setting up
mandatory ethnic studies course is the way to enhance understanding
and increase knowledge of minority students. But when the line of
demarcation is as hard to define as vulnerability to words, we
should be deliberate in choosing the proper remedy. Tolerating
dissent and developing the ability to deal peacefully with
differing opinions has been the hallmark of mature civil societies.
Consider that enhancing our perspective is one of the primary
reasons we undertake the rigors of higher education. The chosen
remedy should encourage, as its lasting effect, the welcoming
disposition already extant among the larger UCLA community.

This university must indeed be representative ““ like a
microcosm ““ of the state of California. Taken literally,
however, that formulation transforms all UCs and California state
universities and colleges into clones of each other. Clearly, each
institution must be allowed to develop an identity of its own,
building on its inherent strengths, according to its particular
circumstances. UCLA would not be the magnet for applicants that it
has become had it not adopted high standards since its inception.
It is clear then that the goal of diversity, if it is to remain a
sustainable project, must be advanced with circumspection, in
conjunction with exacting standards.

Diversity, that is, the inclusion of each and every segment of
society at its best intellectual laboratories, ensures that they
will be grounded on the accomplishments (individual though every
achievement is) of the entire people. Viewed in this perspective,
if not strictly as a mathematical equation, diversity is equal to
excellence.