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To ensure that the Drake campus is hospitable and welcoming to difference in all of its human manifestations-the diversity of race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, interests, backgrounds, opinions, perspectives, talents, and life styles; To improve our ability to recruit and retain diverse students, faculty, and staff; To ensure that issues of difference are appropriately and effectively addressed in the curriculum and co-curriculum (student life). There are several compelling reasons for an aggressive approach to meet these goals. First, at its heart, the fundamental purpose of a university is the discovery, exchange, and application of new ideas. In this context, diversity is essential to the learning environment: a diverse campus population-students, faculty, and staff-brings with it a diversity of ideas and perspectives, of new knowledge sets and new ways of looking at the world. Second, American society is increasingly diverse; by the middle of this century, there will be no majority population in the United States. It is critical that we prepare graduates of Drake University with the skills to negotiate difference, with an intolerance of prejudice, and the knowledge and perspectives to value difference and to learn from it. The health of American society in the 21st century is dependent on our collective ability to understand that difference is an opportunity-not a barrier. Third, the events of recent years have emphasized all the more the complexities of America's role in the world community-the capacity to function effectively in a global arena is essential to our national security, economic competitiveness, and our ability to participate in collaborative solutions to the challenges that face us as a global community. That capacity is dependent not only on our understanding of who we are, but equally on our understanding of who "others" are, and of the ways in which they perceive us. In many areas of the world, the chasm between our view of ourselves and the way in which we are viewed from the "outside" is huge, and our graduates must have the knowledge and the skills to close that gap. Fourth, the economic and social gap between the "haves" and the "have-nots" in the United States-and globally-is widening dramatically. Higher education traditionally has been the most powerful engine of socioeconomic mobility in the United States. Drake University must be part of the solution, not part of the problem-we must participate in collaborative strategies that improve high school graduation rates and that prepare students for the rigors of higher education, and we must do our best to address the financial needs of all applicants to Drake who are academically qualified for admission. Our approach to diversity issues has been multifaceted. Goal IV of the Drake University Strategic Plan: 2001-2006 affirms the University's commitment in this area: "Ensure that Drake students, faculty, and staff are able to function effectively as members of diverse local, national, and global communities." In the 2001-2002 academic year, a Diversity Task Force examined Drake's status in addressing the three goals as stated above, and a number of its recommendations ultimately were incorporated into the objectives and strategies included under Goal IV. In the fall of 2002, a panel of distinguished educators conducted a Diversity Audit, the purpose of which was to give us an outside perspective on diversity issues at the University. Many of the panel's recommendations were included in the final draft of Goal IV as well. There is much work ahead of us, but a concerted collaborative effort-a partnership among students, faculty, staff, alumni, the Board of Trustees, the Alumni Board, the NABs, and the community-is sure to move us ahead in meaningful ways.
David
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From
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