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On The Importance of Diversity in Higher Education

American colleges and universities have long been committed to equal access and opportunity in higher education. While institutions differ in their specific missions, collectively their diversity is a strength. Similarly, many schools believe diversity among their students, faculty, and staff is important to fulfill their primary mission of providing high-quality education. Diversity enhances the educational experience, promotes personal growth and a healthy society, and strengthens communities and the workplace. It also improves America's economic competitiveness by developing the talents of all citizens. While diversity is not achieved through quotas, the future of higher education and democracy require that schools continue efforts to build diverse learning environments appropriate to their missions.

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Abdirizak Hussein
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133 views

On The Importance of Diversity in Higher Education

American colleges and universities have long been committed to equal access and opportunity in higher education. While institutions differ in their specific missions, collectively their diversity is a strength. Similarly, many schools believe diversity among their students, faculty, and staff is important to fulfill their primary mission of providing high-quality education. Diversity enhances the educational experience, promotes personal growth and a healthy society, and strengthens communities and the workplace. It also improves America's economic competitiveness by developing the talents of all citizens. While diversity is not achieved through quotas, the future of higher education and democracy require that schools continue efforts to build diverse learning environments appropriate to their missions.

Uploaded by

Abdirizak Hussein
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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On the Importance of Diversity in Higher Education

The American Council on Education (ACE) has a longstanding record of commitment to access to higher
education for all qualified Americans and to the advancement of equal educational opportunity. This
commitment is reflected in ACE’s positions on public policy, its programmatic activities, and its
employment practices. It has been expressed repeatedly in resolutions by the ACE Board of Directors
regarding affirmative action, nondiscrimination, equity, equal opportunity, and admission standards.

America's colleges and universities differ in many ways. Some are public, others are independent; some
are large urban universities, some are two-year community colleges, and still others are small rural
campuses. Some offer graduate and professional programs, others focus primarily on undergraduate
education. Each of our more than 4,000 colleges and universities has its own specific and distinct mission.
This collective diversity among institutions is one of the great strengths of America’s higher education
system, and has helped make it the best in the world. Preserving that diversity is essential if we hope to
serve the needs of our democratic society and of the increasingly global scope of the economy.

Similarly, many colleges and universities share a common belief, borne of experience, that diversity in
their student bodies, faculties, and staff is important for them to fulfill their primary mission: providing a
high-quality education. The public is entitled to know why these institutions believe so strongly that racial
and ethnic diversity should be one factor among the many considered in admissions. The reasons include:

Diversity enriches the educational experience. We learn from those whose experiences, beliefs, and
perspectives are different from our own, and these lessons can be taught best in a richly diverse
intellectual and social environment.

It promotes personal growth-and a healthy society. Diversity challenges stereotyped preconceptions; it


encourages critical thinking; and it helps students learn to communicate effectively with people of varied
backgrounds.

It strengthens communities and the workplace. Education within a diverse setting prepares students to
become good citizens in an increasingly complex, pluralistic society; it fosters mutual respect and
teamwork; and it helps build communities whose members are judged by the quality of their character and
their contributions.

It enhances America's economic competitiveness. Sustaining the nation’s prosperity in the 21st century
requires us to make effective use of the talents and abilities of all our citizens, in work settings that bring
together individuals from diverse backgrounds and cultures.

American colleges and universities traditionally have enjoyed significant latitude in fulfilling their
missions. Americans have understood that there is no single model of a good college, and that no single
standard can predict with certainty the lifetime contribution of a teacher or a student. Yet the freedom to
determine who shall teach and be taught has been restricted in a number of places, and come under attack
in others. As a result, some schools have experienced precipitous declines in the enrollment of students

1 Dupont Circle NW Washington, DC 20036-1193 P 202 939 9300 F 202 833 4762 www.acenet.edu
from underrepresented minority groups, reversing decades of progress in the effort to ensure that all
groups in American society have an equal opportunity for access to higher education.

Diversity on college campuses is not achieved through quotas. Nor does diversity justify or warrant
admission of unqualified applicants. However, the diversity we seek and the future of the nation do
require that colleges and universities continue to be able to reach out and make a conscious effort to build
healthy and diverse learning environments that are appropriate for their missions. The success of higher
education and the strength of our democracy depend on it.

ACE Board of Directors, June 2012

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