Diversity study: More diverse studies needed
■ Researchers say the
University’s diversity strategy
needs more research
By Mikalos Kloknav
Oregon Daily Emerald
The University's Department of
Diversity Development and Strategy
released the results of its two-year
“Diversity Strategies Study” on Fri
day, and administrators said the
campus needs a much broader set of
diversity studies for the future.
“This study clearly shows the
need for more diversity studies —
and for more diverse diversity stud
ies,” Vice President of Diversity
Strategy Tom Morley said. “We re
main committed to spending the
time necessary to produce a more
pluralistic approach to the research
of diversity development.”
College Republicans President
Jebediah Wilkinson, however, criti
cized the University's “over-rely
ingness on strategic ethnic groups”
in order to produce a study that
would corroborate the administra
tion's “liberal commitment to fund
ing an influx of so-called ‘minori
ties’” to campus.
The latest study was commis
sioned in response to strategy pa
pers outlined in February 2000 by
Michigan State University Profes
sor Edwin Boldman, who exam
ined the University of Oregon's
plans for increasing minority facul
ty recruitment and retention. At the
time, Boldman lambasted the Uni
versity for its “lack of a cohesive di
versity study program,” and the ad
ministration promptly responded
with the creation of the Department
of Diversity Development and
Strategy and the endowment of two
chairs in diversity study research.
Diversity Study Research Profes
sor Sharon Brown said that DDDS
was “flabbergasted” by what she
called the “racially and culturally bi
ased paradigms” uncovered in the
University's overall diversity strate
gy initiatives — and by the slowness
of the University to respond .
“We know the University is not
willing to put its foot down and
commit to a diversity strategy that
would remain free of bias,” she
said. “Here again we see that the
University is willing to pay lip serv
ice to diversity study research, but
they refuse to actually get off their
asses and put in place a long-term
program that will eventually pro
duce an appropriate set of commit
tees charged with the development
of workable, effective diversity
study strategies.”
Morley, who was moved from
the Office of Donor Outreach to
head DDDS in 2000, said this lat
est study is proof that the Univer
sity's commitment to a more di
verse diversity plan remains as
strong as ever.
“With effort from the whole com
munity and a commitment from
our diversity research faculty, we
will eventually produce the most
comprehensive diversity strategy of
any college of a similar size.”
Wilkinson blasted DDDS’ work
as “so much hogwash” and said
that the University should be focus
ing its efforts on teaching and not
on recruiting “a select group of peo
ple to teach a select set of ideals.
“We aren't reaching a diverse
group of people if we only look at
minorities,” he said. “We need to
expand our definition of ‘minori
ties’ beyond people of color if we
expect to broaden our definition.”
A new diversity study is set to
begin in September in conjunction
with the groundbreaking for a new
University Diversity Research and
Strategic Initiative Development
Center to be built near East 15th Av
enue and Columbia Street.
The Emerald hopes you enjoyed
this April Fools Day story.
White men
continued from page 1
Protesters say the RRC is a na
tional think tank that monitors the
behavior of campus liberals and
conducts studies to determine the
level of conservative white male in
fluence on a campus population.
Frohnmayer said he would be
willing to consider signing on with
the RRC only after an exhaustive
examination by a University Senate
subcommittee, a Senate committee,
the full Senate, and after input from
staff, faculty, students, alumni and
everyone else in the Southern
Willamette Valley.
“The RRC is calling for a mini
mum 30 percent conservative
white male agenda to be expressed
in every classroom on campus, and
we need to determine if that figure
is in line with the needs and feel
ings of onr community,” Frohn
mayer said.
The protest began Friday after
noon after the University released a
new diversity study calling for
more diverse diversity studies. The
report came after two years of re
search by ethnically diverse facul
ty — and College Republicans,
business majors and business facul
ty say they are angry.
“We have listened to the admin
istration continually kowtow to
the interests of the liberal majority
at this University,” College Repub
licans President Jebediah Wilkin
son said. “Well I, for one, am mad
as hell, and I’m not going to take it
anymore!”
In a perverse twist on the anti
establishment slogan from the
1976 movie “Network,” angry
white male activists continued to
chant, “I’m mad as hell, and I’m
not going to take it anymore!”
throughout the evening.
Business Professor William
Schmidt said that he is frustrated
by the intolerance he feels from
the multitude of liberal lesbian
faculty members of color and by
the inability of his faculty com
mittee to get any of their pro-con
servative male agenda items heard
by the University Senate.
“We have tried repeatedly to re
quest studies of the intolerant cli
mate toward conservative white
males on this campus, but it seems
all the (University) Senate wants to
do is prance around and talk about
‘diversity,’” Schmidt said. “We’re
white men in ties, for God’s sake,
and we’re being shut out of faculty
lunches!”
Eugene Police Department offi
cers were called in Saturday after
noon to break up fights between the
white male protesters and more than
25 counter-demonstrators who said
they showed up by mistake.
“We thought this was a righteous
rally,” senior Rusty Noon said. “But
then they started yelling at us and
calling us ‘dirty hippies’ and I said,
‘Hey, let’s roll!”’
Administrators inside Johnson
Hall were rumored to be on the
phone with Nike CEO Phil Knight
in an effort to negotiate a peaceful
end to the demonstration.
The angry white men said they
would stay on the Johnson Hall
lawn until their demands are met or
until their cell phone batteries die.
The Emerald hopes you enjoyed
this April Fools Day story.
Air Force ROTC
Oregon State University
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