A diverse collegiate environment consists of students, faculty, staff, and administrators of various backgrounds, experiences, beliefs, and worldviews. We at The Observer believe that a diverse community in this regard is ideal. True diversity exists when people of various backgrounds, experiences, beliefs, and worldviews intermingle and offer each other new perspectives on the world.

We believe that we both contribute to and benefit from this diversity. As Boston College’s newspaper dedicated to upholding traditional and religious values at BC and beyond, we contribute to the campus’s diversity with our unique viewpoints. We also benefit from engaging with those who do not share our values. This engagement allows for both parties to benefit from one another and even permits our audience to hear multiple sides of an issue and decide with whom they agree.

This is precisely how we view our ongoing debates with the ALC and others regarding race issues on campus. We offer our view that affirmative action is counterproductive, unnecessary, and discriminatory. However, our critics on these issues do not see us as offering a distinct viewpoint, but rather one that must be corrected. For example, some argue that criticizing affirmative action is ignorant because it shows a lack of education on race issues.

Calling someone’s political opinion “ignorant” and one that “must be corrected” because you disagree with it conflicts with our vision of diversity. This is a problem we anticipate with the proposed freshman diversity seminar. We fear that if improperly implemented, it will teach one set of views on race, class, gender, and sexuality issues as “correct” and others as “incorrect.” This class may increase the number of AHANA  and GLBTQ students at BC through its potential as a public relations tool, but it has the potential to drive a stake through the heart of developing true diversity at BC.

We hope the students working on this proposal take our concern to heart and consider what we believe to be the true meaning of diversity.

Related Articles:

1. Catholicism 101: Cultural Diversity The word “catholic” means universal, implying that...
2. Observer’s Catholic Issues Editor Interns at Hedge Fund   New Catholic Issues Editor Alex Deriso...
3. Observer’s Opinions Editor’s Summer Recap I started off this past summer with...
4. Observer’s Assistant Business Editor Interns at Coal Mine This summer I took my love for...
5. Observer’s Assistant News Editor Works Retail in Cape Cod Summers on Cape Cod are always fun....