Diversity? Hardly.

Diversity – It’s a word we hear constantly here at Fairfield, but it only seems to appear within two contexts: ethnicity and a lack thereof. If we are going to limit the definition of diversity to these standards, are we going to limit who it applies to?

Why do we define diversity like this to begin with? Read the school website’s statement titled “Diversity at Fairfield,” and you can see the main focus is ethnicity.

Granted, they briefly mention factors such as economic and religious backgrounds. But read on and you can see that the only diversity information supported by statistics is regarding ethnicity.

(Actually, they also cite different financial aid numbers… but once again, in the context of ethnicity. That’s a completely separate issue in itself.)

During the Martin Luther King Convocation in 2005, President Von Arx, S.J. said that although cultural and ethnic statistics should not be the only diversity standards, that “numbers do help move an institution toward a critical mass – within the faculty, administration, and student body. Only then can the point of diversity happen.”

With the recent addition of four new board members to the University Board of Trustees, we believe the University should have applied their definition of diversity to their Board choices. We acknowledge the fact that these four new members were qualified for their positions but if they are to carry out the mission of the University, that includes representing the diversity aspect of the University mission as well.

To be blunt, the new Board members are all middle-aged white males…. not that diverse.