Picture this: you’re applying to schools, found a school you truly love, and it’s your first choice. The one thing that isn’t necessarily the school’s strong point is its campus diversity. What do you do?
Though it may be challenging, there are ways to create and promote diversity on college campuses! If you’re interested in becoming an advocate for campus diversity, there are a number of ways to be successful. With the help of the article 10 Core Ingredients for Fostering Campus Diversity Success, created by The Diversity Factor (a journal from Rutgers University), I’m going to point out some key factors in how you can help change and improve college diversity on any campus!
Don’t follow the leader—be the leader
In order to have any type of diversity present on a college campus, you need a lot of strong leadership. If everyone sits back and says, “I’ll let someone else take charge,” then no one will step up their game! Someone has to be the change, so why not you? Besides, college is a great place to start doing that! Taking on a leadership role, especially within diversity, would do your campus and yourself a lot of good. You’ll learn how to interact with new people, you’ll find out new things about different backgrounds, and you’ll make a lot of great connections!
Integration over separation
So your school may have a couple of groups that focus on diversity. Instead of keeping them separated, find ways to intertwine the two! You’ll always find people you have something in common with, and integrating the two groups will help promote the organizations as well as expand it! The expression “the more the merrier” will certainly apply here.
Don’t just involve the students
Yes, the majority of the people you talk to at school are students. But what about professors, deans, assistant professors, and faculty members? They’re a part of your school too! Including them in your organizations, events, or ideas will probably give you a lot of insight, since they all come from different backgrounds. They will definitely bring a lot to the table. And, because they have a position of influence in the school, deans, professors, and any other staff member will be able to help you with whatever you need and possibly make your ideas come to life faster and better than you expected! A team is only as strong as its weakest link, so if you have a strong team behind you while incorporating ideas and advice from the most influential people in the school, you’ll be able to do the unthinkable!
Although this may all sound a little daunting, it is an exciting thing to take part of! Adding and expanding diversity on campus brings a lot to the college campus as well as to your life experiences. Diversity is a very important factor for many when it comes to making choices about colleges, so do what you can to promote college diversity!
