A Scholarly Melting Pot
The diversity statement at Wright State University, approved by its board of trustees in 1991, is five paragraphs long, culminating with a pledge to establish WSU as “a model for our geographic region” when it comes to embracing differences and encouraging personal dignity and creativity.
Jeff Vernooy, chair of the WSU Diversity Advocacy Council and director of disability services, believes the university is living that mission, which has “a transformative impact” on students, faculty and the community. The number of WSU black students increased by 37 percent from 2004 to 2008, and international students on campus represent 66 countries.
WSU’s Bolinga Black Cultural Resources Center, the Asian/Hispanic/ Native American Center and the Women’s Center are all designed to provide the students they serve with a culturally affirming education, social occasions and academic assistance.
Students from India have discovered WSU’s high-ranking engineering and computer science curricula and are spreading the word about the strong technical programming and the welcoming environment. “I think some of it, quite simply, is word of mouth. When you talk with the students who are from India, they talk about who is coming the next year. They’ve communicated, even set up listservs, to be our own recruiting,” Vernooy says.
Both the College of Liberal Arts and the Raj Soin College of Business offer international studies programs, and WSU students participate in exchange programs. Likewise, exchange students make their temporary home here.
In 2007, the Minority and Friends Network, an organization to help minority candidates succeed in higher education careers, recognized WSU’s Office of Residence Services and its Counseling and Wellness Services for a two-credit course offered each spring. Entitled “Privilege and Oppression in America,” the course tackles the tough issues of discrimination – politics, religion and other hot-button topics.
“Students begin to understand that their world is very different,” says Vernooy. “Students who leave the Dayton, Ohio, area and go out into the country find the diversity really different than
it is here. To prepare students to do that is important.”
WSU also hosts diversity lectures by nationally known personalities and an annual Quest for Community conference each spring to address diversity issues in higher education.
Vernooy adds that diversity initiatives must cover more than ethnicity and race. “While we certainly have those differences on our campus, we also have, for example, a large disabled student population,” he says.
In fact, five students enrolled for the 2008-09 academic year and living in residence halls are ventilator-dependent at least part of each day.
“We really do see disability as part of the fabric of our institution,” Vernooy says. “People live different lives in different ways. That’s the thing that I’m most proud of about the university: We have really encompassed all of those differences.”
