The Sophian

Issue date: 9/21/06 Section: Opinions

What comes to mind when we think or hear the word "diversity?" One of the advantages of an institution like Smith is that it creates a safe and challenging environment for women, an environment where the differences are vast. When we walk around campus, we see tall women, short women, women with dreads, women with multicolored hair and, of course, a brave few who are hairless. These differences are those we can see and speak about with ease, but there are other differences amongst Smith women that are harder to address because they scare us or make us uncomfortable. This is the diversity we have yet to address.

As compulsive e-mail checkers, we all know of President Carol Christ's e-mail detailing the Common Ground Report that was released earlier this month. The e-mail explains that the Common Ground Project was launched in December 2004 by the Office of Institutional Diversity as a response to President Christ's aim to develop strategic initiatives supporting diversity across the college. Once again, the term diversity is used, but what do the organizers of the Common Ground report think diversity is? As stated in the Common Ground Report, "After wrestling with the significance and use of the term 'diversity' throughout the project, the Common Ground Committee offers the following vision, principles and goals in the area of community/diversity, with the aim of identifying a 'common ground' understanding of diversity at Smith."

This sounds simple, but it is not. As I said, diversity on Smith's campus encompasses women of all different ethnicities, races, sexual orientations and values. While many, if not all, Smithies support enhancing diversity on campus and are happy that the college is taking the initiative to do so, some feel that certain topics have been overstressed while others never mentioned. Campus-wide discussions of issues of gender, sexuality and class were highlighted during the academic year of 2005-2006. These concerns are important to the student body and many were happy that these topics were being discussed openly. Students should be pleased with the findings and recommendations of the Common Ground report. Yet, throughout all of my three years at Smith, I have never heard of a "Hot Seat" discussion on race at Smith, and not much discussion of the ever-increasing racial tensions on Smith's Campus.

Yes, we are a diverse group of women who share a common goal to be equipped with an education that is going to not only benefit us but the entire world. The Common Ground Project is a good start, but it still is not enough. There are students who quietly struggle every day with issues that are rarely, if ever, addressed on campus, such as weight, body image and depression. These are not comfortable things to discuss, and they may not look good in an alumnae quarterly or on a webpage, but that does not mean they should be overlooked or ignored. In order for all Smithies to truly have common ground, there has to be talk about all the different struggles we experience, not just the same, safe topics that have been over-discussed and overstressed so many times that we hate to hear them. Diversity will mean nothing if it is not all encompassing, and I wait hopefully for the day when it will be.

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