EDITORIAL: Encouraging or hindering diversity?
Central Michigan University is a place where diversity is and should be encouraged.
Interviews for Wednesday's Central Michigan Life story “Troutman residency based on scholarship, not race; misunderstanding remains,” debunked the assumption some students have that certain floors of Troutman Hall serve as dorms for students of particular races only and clarified those rooms are rather held for specific scholarship recipients.
Like many other scholarships at CMU, Multicultural Advancement and Lloyd Cofer scholarship students live in the same residence hall as their fellow scholars. At first thought, this is a reasonable way to organize the about 140 MAC scholars who currently live in Troutman Hall.
While this method of designating students to specific dorms is convenient for quickly communicating news pertinent to those with the same scholarship, it should not be used for these scholars.
The terms “multicultural,” in the actual name of the scholarship, and “diversity,” used in the description of the scholarship on CMU’s website, both seem to promote the creation of circumstances where students from different backgrounds can meet one another.
If the focus of the MAC scholarship is diversity, Residence Life should step outside the typical way of how students with the same scholarship are organized on campus, and spread these students out. This would help fulfill one of the main reasons why they’re here, and why they received the scholarship in the first place — diversity.
In the same description of the MAC scholarship on CMU’s website, it says recipients, “share the common goal of academic achievement, service and commitment to diversity, multiculturalism and inclusion.”
Yes, other scholars without a diversity focus may end up spending a significant amount of time with one another, but that’s not the point of the scholarships in question.
Troutman Residence Hall Director Bill O’Dell said some MAC scholars have similar class schedules and living together gives them a support group.
An important fact is that MAC scholars who wish to live in a residence hall other than Troutman are able to do so, but most do not move, and several sources in the story said they enjoy their living situations.
But there were several people who had issues with the living situation, including a MAC scholar who said though he is happy with his living situation, there is a distance between the scholars and other residents in the same hall.
When first moving to college, it's typical for students to become friends with people who live on their floor. If MAC scholars lived across campus in different locations, they would not only have the support group of friends on their floor, but also other MAC scholars, who they spend time with for activities related to their studies and scholarship. That's more diverse than the current situation.
Those in charge of choosing where MAC scholars live should take a second look to determine if they are encouraging or hindering the stated purpose of the scholarship.
