Message from Trustee Lisa Bennett '93

When asked to initially give my thoughts on diversity, I was challenged with coming up with a short statement and not a senior thesis. The more I thought of the word and its value, the clearer the task became. Diversity, for the past ten to fifteen years, has been preached and taught throughout society. For the most part, it has come to mean integration by simply mixing races. However, to reduce diversity to such a simplistic definition is a great fallacy. I believe diversity means valuing the differences that each individual adds to the system. Each race, ethnic group and gender--the most basic notions of diversity--is made up of different socioeconomic backgrounds, education levels, world experiences and environmental influences which are more complex notions of diversity. To assume that each member of a race or even hometown has the same outlook or view is an unenlightened perspective.

So why is diversity so important to a university such as DePauw or any institution? Through diversity, we learn more about ourselves than we ever could in a homogeneous group. Diversity is an important aspect of our educational growth because the collegial years are a time of intellectual maturation and personal development. Through diversity, your world view is influenced by the reality of others. You may never have been to Senegal; however, through conversation with someone from that country you gain an understanding of that region’s demographics. In your day-to-day experiences you may have infrequent opportunities for conversation with someone of a different race but through that conversation you realize that, though your skin color is indicative of difference, your thoughts and ideas express similarity. Without diversity, thinking remains narrowly focused. Diversity is invaluable because it encourages growth and inclusion.