Traditional minstrel shows until the 1950s, public designation as a college for white men in 1954, and letters from alumni expressing anger when Guilford started the integration process in the 1960s: “All of these things have built up to where we are today and we cant just say ‘lets start over,'” said James Shields, director of community learning.Students and staff involved in the Anti-Racism Team, Blacks Unifying Society, Bonner Scholars, Native American Club, Senate, PRIDE, Project Community, and Campus Life organized “Express Yourself Week” from March 17-21 to address the necessity of embracing diversity at Guilford. Twenty-five students gathered in Boren Lounge for the diversity panel and shared their concerns and ideas during two hours of community time on March 19.

Mostly students of color participated in this conversation questioning students’ and the administration’s commitment to empowering everyone.

“Were you sold on this school as a place where diversity is celebrated?” asked Shields, who facilitated the discussion. More than half of the group raised their hands with commentary.

“On their tour, Guilford said the word diversity more times than any other school I visited. I was impressed by the fact they had flags from different countries in the library,” said first-year Kristin Williams. “People aren’t tolerant of diversity here – many people are isolated and end up transferring.”

Despite the fact that diversity is a core value, students fail to recognize their responsibility in having real conversations about their identities.

“I’ve had some of my best friends say I was afraid to talk to you about race because I thought I’d lose you,” said senior Martha Assefa. “How can a person say they are anti-racist but not take time to have a conversation about it?”

Eighteen percent of traditional students are people of color. Students at the panel discussed some problems with interactions between racial groups.

“Black people on campus working for equality are tokenized,” said sophomore Casey Thomas. “Yes, we bring a quality of diversity to Guilford, but it doesn’t have to be divisive. It shouldn’t be this way, but when you assert ‘I am black’ you will turn so many people off from you.”

Community events provide a space to work towards anti-racism on campus, despite the lack of attendance of people not involved in the clubs organizing them.

“It’s easy to claim to embrace diversity but a lot of people just say ‘I’m liberal so obviously if I had the opportunity to have a black friend I would,'” said sophomore Bevelyn Ukah, who helped organize the panel. “We sent Facebook messages to everyone we knew and a lot of people didn’t come. If people really cared about diversity they would be there.”

While the Strategic Long Range Plan (SLRP) requires all faculty and staff to complete diversity and institutional racism training by 2010, some believe students should be included.

“We need to make it a requirement for all staff, faculty, and students to participate in the anti-racism trainings offered by the multicultural education department,” said junior JaNell Henry, who helped organize the panel.

Remembering that these issues sear further back into Guilford’s history provides an understanding of Guilford’s relationship with diversity today.

“We need to make Guilford work for everyone instead of assuming everyone who is not white will assimilate into the culture already here,” Shields said.

SLRP anticipates people of color to hold 17 percent of faculty positions by 2010. The most recent published statistic shows 16 percent as of 2006.

“Its frustrating not to see aspects of myself in positions of power at school,” Thomas said. “It’s not like there’s an unspoken bond between black people, it’s just like ‘thank god I see a woman of color in power.'”

People of color comprise 25 percent of staff positions, which include everything from the administration to housekeeping and maintenance.

“Diversity has to be spread throughout positions of power,” Thomas said. “Plantations had diverse people too, but that doesn’t mean it was a healthy model.”

Staff members are not paid as close to the median market rate as faculty members are. Guilford pays their staff 85.7 percent of the average wage for the industry. If housekeepers in Greensboro are paid an average of $8 an hour, Guilford pays its housekeeping staff an average of $6.86 an hour.

While the SLRP originally set out to raise staff salaries to 90 percent of the market rate and faculty salaries to 100 percent, according to the approved 2008-09 budget they plan to revisit this.

“Throughout history, Guilford has expressed intent of integration but they took their time,” Shields said. “However, in spite of the efforts of the administration to keep the status quo, there has always been voices from students and the community pressing Guilford to integrate.