The demographics in the nation are changing,
and we, as a university, have to change with it.
And with this greater inter-connectivity,
there's a greater potential for conflicts the misunderstandings
across differences.
But also a greater potential for understanding
across differences.
The social ills that plagued us in the 20th century
in the 19th century continue to rear their heads
in the 21st century.
What better way to learn about the world
than to meet people who have been
all around the world, who are coming
from all around the world?
Research evidence suggests that learning and problem solving
are both greatly enhanced when cohort
of students working together in the classroom are diverse.
Diversity inclusion for the 21st century university
is an entirely different matter than it was 40 years ago.
Over the 25 years that I've been here,
just the nature of the conversation
has changed significantly.
Who we even think of as marginalized or
underrepresented groups have changed significantly.
It was a new and cutting edge idea.
Now it is an essential structural element
of any incompetent intellectual enterprise.
Yes, we may be intellectuals in an academic environment,
but above all, we are humans learning
what it is to be human.
Figuring out ways to destabilize systems of discrimination
and systems of exclusion.
If those conversations can't happen here at Brown,
I don't know where else they can happen.
I work to help all of our community
understand diversity, understand skill sets that
are required to develop individuals,
to help them to understand that people communicate
and work differently, depending on their culture,
depending on their exposure and their experiences in life.
Some of the work that I do here at the Brown
Center for Students of Color contributes
to a diverse learning environment
by fostering community amidst students of color
and their peers, facilitates inter-generational mentoring
between students of color and alumni of color,
and then also to bring dialogues to various communities
on campus.
At a foundational level, students
are thinking critically about these issues.
But I also encourage students to think self-reflectively,
have them practice looking self-reflectively
at what the histories of exclusion look
like, even on campus.
What that has allowed students to do
is to think critically about how they can also
be social agents of change.
Some of the most rewarding experiences I've had
have been working with students who
are struggling, and seeing them grow and develop as students,
and become more comfortable with who they are,
later taking on leadership roles at Brown and beyond.
The diversity of the student body on campus
can either overwhelm, or empower,
depending on the resources.
I think one of the vital issues is diversifying our faculty.
If students can look to their professors or administrators,
and see something in themselves reflected back,
I think that would motivate.
We need to empower people to have voices,
to express themselves when they need support.
As administrators, we need to be more thoughtful, careful,
and committed to learning about the communities
that we're going to be interfacing with,
such that we can ensure that the resources that we provide
to the institution are accessible, available,
and targeted.
Oftentimes, as administrators, we're
not really sure how much of an impact
we're making on students, especially when they're
going through a crisis.
But I've had many students come back to me later and say
how important it was to have these type services, especially
the LGBTQ center, as a central part of the university,
to help them succeed while they're at Brown.
The student community helps drive the reflection
and critical engagement among the administration,
around how we can best become a more diverse and inclusive
environment.
It seems to me we have a decent representation of women
of color, specifically, who have come back
to Brown to serve as educators and administrators.
And many of these folks were activists
while they were undergraduates.
For me personally, it's always been a little surreal for me
to come back to Brown as an educator and administrator,
when frankly, as an undergraduate,
I'd had somewhat of a contested relationship
with the institution.
Yet there is something about this place that perhaps gave me
hope and desire to be engaged, and that maybe
change and positive development within the community
would be possible.
People and students are complex beings with diverse backgrounds
and multiple identities that often
intersects and inter-relates.
I think that our approach to the university
should reflect, acknowledge, incorporate, and celebrate
that reality.