op-ed Current methods for diversity

Author: Dean Shirley Ramirez and Associate Dean Karen Guttentag

The Dec. 6 edition of The Campus included an important Letter to the Editor from Nicole Conti '09. We thank Nicole for drawing attention to the important logistical and cultural concerns of students of all racial backgrounds, including white students, who have limited financial resources and/or are the first person in their family to attend college. We write to affirm for Nicole and students with similar backgrounds that we hear and share your concerns, to update the Middlebury community on current efforts to address them and to invite additional dialogue about how Middlebury can better validate and respond to the experiences of first-generation and working-class students.

Members of the Middlebury community are increasingly aware that students of all backgrounds who are not socio-economically advantaged face barriers in their academic, residential and social lives that challenge their ability to meet their goals and undermine their sense of belonging. Some of these challenges are purely financial, while others involve adjusting to an environment in which incorrect assumptions and unfamiliar cultural patterns can be disturbing and confusing. These concerns are reflected in a growing national dialogue in higher education on what it means to support socioeconomic diversity and provide opportunities to the brightest students, and what existing challenges for these students need institutional attention.

There are a number of developing initiatives here at Middlebury that we hope will begin to address some of these problems. The Study Abroad Office has been exploring affordability and acculturation issues for working-class students, and the Career Services Office is continuing its work to develop funding programs to support unpaid internships. In response to Strategic Plan Recommendation #11, a Financial Aid Advisory Committee of faculty and staff was convened this fall to explore financial aid options and reexamine our financial aid policies. This committee will provide recommendations to the president and senior administrators about how the College should move forward in its financial aid policies. A six-hour diversity training for residential life staff in September included heightening awareness of community diversity of all kinds, including socio-economic diversity. Abbreviated versions of this training have been implemented for many of our staff supervisors and managers.

Addressing issues of diversity in the classroom has also been an area of focus in new faculty orientation this year. The staff of the Center for Teaching, Learning and Research is actively engaged in providing one-on-one advising for students who are unfamiliar with the workings of college academic and administrative programs and resources, and many other offices are involved with additional initiatives or adjustments. In addition to these efforts, we applaud the SGA Diversity Committee for shedding light on this issue by sponsoring last semester's Privilege Week. While financial and logistical issues can be addressed through program and policy changes when appropriate, we must also work, as Nicole suggests, to create a campus culture that values diversity of all kinds, including socioeconomic diversity. We know that there is more work to be done, and some of this work involves gaining a better understanding of the ways in which working-class and first-generation students experience Middlebury.

To that end, we invite all students who wish to share their concerns, perspectives and stories on this topic to contact us. Please feel free to communicate with us by e-mail, to set up individual meetings or to suggest other ways in which we can advance this conversation.

Shirley Ramirez is the Dean for Institutional Diversity and Karen Guttentag is the Associate Dean of the College Staff Members of the Office for Institutional Diversity.