After undergoing its final stages of revision, the Diversity Plan, officially known as “Connecting Communities and Embracing Diversity: A Plan for Guilford College 2010-2015,” was approved by the board of trustees during the weekend of Feb. 27-28. Board chair Joe Bryan Jr.. said “the Board approved the plan because it is taking Guilford’s goals for diversity and equality and putting them in the books.”

While the board has approved the plan in principle, they have not yet approved or created an action plan to implement the goals.

“The U.N. resolutions to end the occupation and inhumanity in Palestine were passed by the U.N. many times,” said sophomore Senate vi.ce-president Dana Hamdan, who attended the meeting.

“But these resolutions were worthless because they didn’t bring people land, money or peace. David Hammond, Holly Wilson, Jeff Favolise and others have been doing above and beyond in making sure that this plan is a reality and not just another UN resolution.”

Multi-cultural scholar Martha Assefa, a senior, said that many individuals worked very hard to write the plan and that it has been a very long process that began while she was a first-year.

“Change happens very slowly at Guilford. People were working really hard on trying to implement the diversity plan, and four years later it is passed in principle,” said Assefa. “This is a good step but I’m hoping the action will happen a bit faster.”

Assefa said that while a slow process can be frustrating, it has been beneficial because there is a strong sense of consciousness and knowledge about the campus’ needs.

“Because conciseness about issues and knowledge are solid, when actions are proposed, they will be approved faster,” said Assefa.

Hammond said that the plan reflects the common agreement that Guilford should be more diverse and that we should work together for substantive equality.

“The plan provides the language to communicate about diversity as an institution, but the action steps should make sure that students who get enrolled have access to resources that will support them,” said Assefa.

What is Diversity?

The plan includes four general goals: 1) To increase and sustain diversity among students, staff and faculty 2) To assure substantive equality in a diverse community 3) To create an institutional structure that will sustain the diversity and substantive equailty initiatives, and 4) To improve opportunities for diverse organizations to do business with the College.

“(The Diversity plan) is a vision whereby diversity is a positive trait that represents the best of our country and our world rather than a threat to the status quo,” said Vice President for Academic Affairs and Academic Dean Adrienne Israel, who helped with editorial revisions of the plan.

The plan currently states that “Diversity is not about only difference but also inclusiveness and a recognition that we share many aspirations and attributes including a common institutional context.”

Additionally, “Diversity” refers to five areas of emphasis: race, gender, ethnicity, sexual identity, and international origin, which applies to both non U.S. citizens and to students who are not native-born.

In the executive summary, the plan states that “Whenever the plan discusses the goals of achieving diversity in the College, it refers to these five areas of emphasis”

“I hope that we will continue to do the tricky work of both defining “diversity” more broadly,” said Director of Campus Ministries Max Carter, who is a member of the Quaker Life and Diversity committee. “We need to bring in a variety of Quakers as well as varieties of Muslims, Jews, and other religions, for example, and not getting caught up in a “politically correct” version of diversity.”

Assefa said that while being general is inclusive, being specific is necessary because while Guilford can make the College more diverse by enrolling more diverse students, the level of support each group gets varies greatly.

“For example Quaker students have a lot of support, a lot of resources that enable them to practice their faith that other faiths on this campus don’t have access to equal resources,” said Assefa. “After passing the plan, we now agree that need to work towards diversity and substantive equality, but how can we make it real?”

Quantitative and Qualitative Goals

The last stages of revision fine-tuned the language but made the objectives of the plan more general.

“The good thing about the plan being general is that it is open and doesn’t leave people out,” said Hammond. “If were to list every group and every initiative then they would be set in stone and we would forget important things.”

However, the lack of specificity in the plan’s goals has also been critiqued.

“Peoples’ knowledge and awareness about what diversity means, racism as a concept, as action is on different levels,” said Assefa. “It’s interesting to see how the plan went from really specific to being more watered down.”

The objectives of the plan are discussed in terms of quantitative and qualitative goals.

The quantitative goals each have a set timeframe to be accomplished. According to the plan, “diversity numbers are currently at or near the 2010 targets in the Strategic Plan.”

The plan details specific goals for enrolling more students, faculty and staff members.

“They are not quota,” said Hammond. “They are to make sure that Guilford is at the very minimum in line with percentages of national diversity.”

Though the quantitative goals are precisely set, the qualitative goals are undetermined.

“Quantitative goals are always clearer. It’s about data and numbers so they are precise,” said Interim Director of Multicultural Education Holly Wilson. “Qualitative goals are always going to be less clear which is why community input is important so we can determine these steps.”