That “D” word again…
You know, Diversity!
I, and others, went to the diversity plan open session on Friday, and I’ve been meaning to share my thoughts on the subject, but have been too busy.
There were a large number of faculty there. Of those who spoke, a large portion were from overseas. Of the people attending who were not part of the diversity plan committee, the opinions were largely against the proposed diversity plan.
There was some choice commentary from some of the people in attendence. My favorite was a short story about how Russia was lost to communism due to people talking about diversity and righting things with the serfs after they were freed in Russia.
“Stop this now, before it is too late,” was the passionate end to another anti-plan speech.
And there was talk of elephants in the room. To the Republicans on campus: There are some faculty members here who understand that intellectual and political diversity is valuable. Everyone in the room was treated to Prof. Bill Harbaugh’s brief report on the current state of Political Diversity at the UO.
Among the definitions of Cultural Competence that has been circulated: “Cultural Competency: Cacophonic Clause Created to Clear Campus of Conservatives.”
Several people asked the Vice Provost if he could name a budget figure for his office. He could not or would not. He stated that if anyone sent him an email asking for the figure, he would provide it. I have sent such an email and have been assured by an administrative assistant that the figure will be provided to me tomorrow or the next day.
I’ll have more soon enough. Stay tuned.
Actually, I don’t think I would. You see, words can have different meanings even if they’re spelled the same way. You cleverly used the word “liberal” as an adjective AND as a noun. There are a lot of words like that – take “book” for example. A “book” can be defined as “a printed or written literary work” (thank you, dictionary.com). However (now this is the tricky part), it can also be used as a verb. I know it’s a stretch, but go with me here. The verb “book” can be defined as “to arrange for in advance; reserve.”
My argument before still stands. Anthony is a hypocrite. Even if he meant “Diversity”, he still doesn’t respect differing opinions – something he wants others to do for him.
So if I said, “we need a more liberal student conduct code because liberals have put in overreaching punishments,” you’d call me a hypocrite right? Please.
Andy, I think the only reason he capitalized “diversity” was because it was at the beginning of the sentence. When he used it the first time, he didn’t capitalize it:
“I can
We’re all so literal here aren’t we…
“Diversity” is just another newspeak word. Just like “Liberal,” it has been hijacked to conform to progressive ideology. Anthony says Diversity is bad, but he wants diversity on campus. Comprende?
I would be classified as “Diverse” because my dad came from south america, and I grew up poor. But apparently my diversity of opinion wasn’t appreciated in my WGS101 class when I was openly mocked by various discussion leaders.
Anthony is right: I’m pretty sure none of the Hiring Plans that stem from the Diversity Plan will include any emphasis on diversity of thought or ideology.
And on that Anthony, consider yourself bashed…
Diversity: 1 Anthony: 0
This blog entry surprised me. What is the campus climate on issues like political/racial/gender diversity at UO? On a scale of 1 to 10, where would you guys rate UO’s diversity sphincter-factor?
As far as the word “Republican” being mentioned at such a meeting, I’m surprised to hear that it wasn’t used primarily as an insult. Of course, that could have something to do with the growing sense among the left that the Republicans are on their way out of power and are thus less threatening. I suspect a new boogie-man must begin development very soon in the shadowy recesses of the Daily Kos. My bet is that it’s going to be evangelicals.
Here’s some good news on the anti-diversity-fetish front: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/14476710.htm
Quote:
“Dismissing the defense contentions that money was raised for charities, [Judge] Moody said: `Your only connection to widows and orphans was that you create them.””
Surprise, surprise — yet one more judge in this country who can find his baskside with both hands.
The correct URL for my diversity stuff is
http://nanonomics.typepad.com/
and the political data is at
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~harbaugh/UODiversity/
I did a special Libertarian tab for y’all. Sorry, it’s 3 out of 506 professors. If you want to know who, take a few econometrics classes and then I’ll give you the data.
Bill
Oh, I wholly agree, Olly. Mainly those were examples people were giving as examples of diversity that aren’t even considered in the plan. The plan only deals with skin color in a lot of people’s eyes. I was just surprised at how many times the word “Republican” was mentioned.
Almost everyone opposed to this plan wants faculty hirings to take place for only one reason: They are among the best in their field and can teach.
“To the Republicans on campus: There are some faculty members here who understand that intellectual and political diversity is valuable.”
Right, but I sincerely hope that if the UO ever decided to start prioritizing the hiring of Republicans and assessing the “progress” made by different departments based on how many Republicans they hired, we’d all be opposed to that, as well.
“Political diversity” on campus may be a nice thing to have, in a touchy-feely sort of way, but it has absolutely nothing to do with the mission of the university, which is to teach and to produce scholarship. Anything that impedes that mission should be regarded with the utmost scepticism.
I just don’t know if Anthony understands that the comment he made above is a big contradictory statement. First he says that diversity is bad, then states that we should focus on differing opinions. Last time I checked, diversity = different things, not the same thing over and over again… Hmm…
Why don’t you go shoot a gun or something Anthony. You have a point about encouraging ideological equality on campus put it seems that every good idea that comes out of your mouth is overshadowed by the ignorant statements that seem to follow it. You will never accomplish anything significant to better this worl because you yourself don’t honor other ideologies. Try practicing what you preach if you want to ever do anything besides bitching and moaning.
I can’t stand diversity and all this talk about it. Diversity is an evil word used by the left to spread its message of overwhelming disgusting tolerance for everything under the sun. Why don’t we focus on differing ideological opinions on campus? That is what college should focus on.