Pat yourselves on the back Georgetown students, we embrace diversity. I mean, it even says so on those bright blue banners hanging around campus, and we created a new position called the Vice President for Institutional Diversity and Equity – whatever that means. While we love to talk about diversity here, rarely do we see any of it in action.
Recent surveys of Georgetown students revealed that dissatisfaction about the diversity of the student body increases with time on the Hilltop. Last year, almost double the numbers of seniors were dissatisfied with Georgetown’s level of diversity than freshmen were (28 percent compared to 15 percent, respectively). The numbers are much higher, however, when the same question is posed to students of color; more than half of whom responded as being dissatisfied with diversity on campus identified themselves as students of color. This is important because it reveals that with time, most Georgetown students realize that the school is – how shocking – not as diverse as it initially seems.
Like me, the first thought that probably came to your mind when you saw the first words of this column, was race. Georgetown has some Asian students, a few black students and a couple of Latinos, so we must be diverse. Even if diversity only concerned race, Georgetown’s diversity score would not be looking too good. Our student body is not consistent with the way America really looks. Don’t get me wrong; we are not the worst school in the world in terms of diversity. Imagine being part of the 2 percent of black students at UCLA (a school about four times larger than Georgetown but with fewer black students).
What about socioeconomic class? A school as diverse as Georgetown must have a wide representation of classes and financial backgrounds, right? Wrong. All one needs to do is refer to THE HOYA’s New Student Orientation edition of THE GUIDE (Aug. 25, 2006, 6-7) to see “typical” Georgetown students Joe and Jane Hoya. They don’t look like they come from poor backgrounds. Out of 196 universities surveyed about economic diversity, Georgetown ranked behind every other school except 10. What does this mean for the student body?
The most startling implication is that the 10.8 percent of students receiving Pell grants at Georgetown will not feel like they can be themselves in a campus filled with wealth. Another important issue is that students here will likely never get to really meet people of different social classes and economic backgrounds. While some Georgetown students venture off into Southeast Washington, D.C. a few times during their years here, most will never get to meet people pushed into the margins of society. The school can do more to advertise its full-need financial aid kit. Some alumni would gladly donate to a fund for students unable to meet the costs of a private university.
What about sexuality? Do you know who Bill McCoy is? How hard it was and how much time it took for his position to be created? Props to you if you can even say his long official title: assistant director of student programs and LGBTQ community resources. The fact that Georgetown is a Jesuit university should not render LBGTQ students and faculty unworthy of the same resources as other groups on campus. Have you ever called something “gay” intending for the meaning to be stupid? Be careful in the future. You never know when someone around you is hearing you call his or her sexual orientation “stupid.”
I do not even need to mention ability. Are you “blind” or “retarded” not to see or understand the way campus looks from the point of view of someone on a wheelchair? Even the access which I usually take for granted into my Village A apartment would be impossible if I was disabled.
With all these concerns I have about diversity on campus, don’t get the impression I hate this place. It is the exact opposite. I literally bleed Hoya Blue. It is because of this that I hope we all work together to make this campus a better place so that everyone feels included.
Once we better understand the intricacies of our diversity, we are on our way to achieving a better understanding our world. Don’t be politically correct – that is not what embracing diversity is all about. Ask questions. Do something new. eaningful cross-cultural interaction is necessary and it starts with you. During NSO last year, a freshman asked me why Georgetown forced diversity on them. “Why should I care?” he asked. You may be wondering the same. The truth is, you should care because we all live in this world. Don’t try to make everyone the same or assume that we are all born with the same opportunity. In the same way we all come together to cheer for our basketball star Jeff Green – let us come together to celebrate and appreciate our differences.
Hammad Hammad is a junior in the School of Foreign Service.