Last weekend, I had dinner with some neighbors. We live in a very liberal neighborhood within a very liberal city. I always look forward to discussing various topics with my liberal neighbors and usually the conversations are enjoyable and instructive. The range of subjects is generally unlimited but usually include those areas where liberals and conservatives can mostly disagree. In the course of the evening, one subject that was considered was that of diversity. It has always been my belief that diversity, as implemented by the left, centers around race or gender or sexual preference rather than diversity of ideas. The virtue of diversity is lauded, but when asked to show how diversity really helps a particular institution, for example a university, little evidence (even empiric) can be sited.
In investigating this question, I came across an article [International Journal of Public Opinion, Vol.15 No.1] which looked at the whether diversity enrollment at universities improves education. Unlike certain other studies which tend to be methodologically flawed (for example some studies will ask survey questions about diversity and employ no empirical data) this study by Rothman, Lipset and Nevitte, looked at answers to questions about educational and racial atmosphere at the university and then correlated the answers with empirical data with regard to racial demographics on campus. To the dismay of the liberal establishment encamped at most universities, there was a negative correlation between racial diversity and educational/racial advancement.
Generally, the results were dismissed as flawed without impeaching data or methods. Upon learning of the results, the responses were predictable. At one campus:
Many University officials said they were surprised by the findings and didn’t believe them.
“The premise … I find preposterous and defensive,” said Archie Ervin, director of Minority Affairs. “At our campus I know that students admitted to this university are qualified to be here by both the standardized and quantitative factors.”
Many officials also said that survey results couldn’t compare to the evidence apparent right on UNC’s own campus.
“What I know about UNC-Chapel Hill is that why we are successful at educating students is because we have diversity,” said Terri Houston, director of minority recruitment.
“I don’t know what kinds of research they did. I can’t even say it’s valid. But I can say … that having diversity within an institution is … critical to the learning environment and academic success of every student in the University community.”
What is interesting is that diversity is treated like a religious belief, but with much less evidence or reason. Anything which speaks against the diversity theory is dismissed as heresy. One commentator suggests that the messenger of such news can expect to be killed by the liberals.
Diversity is about ideas and should be particularly so on college campuses. Forget the race, gender, sexual preference thing. Real education is about ideas. Until diversity centers on intellectual diversification, we can expect the intellectual atmosphere at the universities to become increasingly thin.
