The Diversity Action Plan, which was released earlier this semester by the Office of Institutional Diversity, has received mixed reviews from students interviewed by The Herald, though two administrators offered largely positive feedback.
The 13-page plan, which stems from a recommendation in the Plan for Academic Enrichment, aims both to redress historical injustices and to promote a diverse exchange of ideas among people with a wide range of opinions, according to the OID's Web site.
One of the goals of the DAP is to assign official responsibility to specific administrators for creating diversity initiatives, said Associate Provost and Director of Institutional Diversity Brenda Allen. Some proposals in the DAP - such as implementing a "need-blind admission program beginning with the class of 2007" - have been completed already, while others, such as improving the recruitment and retention of undergraduate and graduate students from underrepresented backgrounds, are ongoing.
According to Allen, the plan's overarching objectives are recruiting a more diverse faculty and student body, managing existing diversity-related programs through financial support and educational programs and reporting problems when they occur. Effective diversity management, she said, will encourage the sharing of more opinions on campus by providing a safe environment where people can contribute ideas.
The plan offers solutions for promoting all kinds of diversity, including racial, socioeconomic and geographic, all of which, Allen said, will help to increase intellectual diversity at Brown. She added that intellectual diversity was indeed a main focus of the plan but that particular attention would be paid to redressing historical wrongs against underrepresented populations. She also said such a focus was in no way inconsistent with the goals of diversity on campus.
"Intellectual diversity is the result of having multiple perspectives represented, and those perspectives are the result of many different backgrounds," she said, adding that diversity of experiences among students and faculty could only add to the range of opinions expressed on campus.
Karen McLaurin '74, associate dean of the College and director of the Third World Center, said she thinks the plan is "a first."
"I think it says a lot that the University is putting forward a specific platform that has specific goals," she said. McLaurin added that she expects good results if, as anticipated, the community is willing to support the plan.
"It's the institution recognizing that diversity is important," added a student involved in the TWC who asked to remain anonymous.
Some students unaffiliated with the TWC also expressed optimism about the DAP.
"The plan is a positive and much-needed step toward enhancing diversity at Brown ... we also need to have an open dialogue on campus about race relations," wrote Tor Tarantola '08, president of the Brown Democrats, in an e-mail to The Herald. Tarantola, however, expressed concern that need-blind admission is not yet available for transfer and international students.
Other students were less impressed with the plan, especially challenging the link between racial and socioeconomic diversity and intellectual diversity. "What makes Brown so great is diversity, but it's not about skin color; it's the way the students think," said Pratik Chougule '08, editor-in-chief of the Brown Spectator, a conservative magazine on campus. Chougule added that he "didn't see anything remotely innovative" about the plan and thought it simply "reinforced every stereotype" about the University.
Evan Smith '09 agreed, saying that the University has become "a self-selecting recruitment pool" and "a bastion of liberalism."
The anonymous student involved with the TWC offered a different take. "By strengthening Brown's cultural and racial diversity, the University will be improving its intellectual diversity," the student said.
