A Crisis In the War On Homogeneity

Just when I thought the diversity/multiculturalism fetish couldn't get any weirder, I found this story via Tongue Tied:

Education school aims to address mulitcultural crisis

First of all, I love the typo in the title. "Mulitcultural?" Is that the culture of people with short hair on top and long hair in back?

Allegations of cultural insensitivity and incompetence within the University College of Education have led the school's student and faculty diversity committee to recently declare a "multicultural crisis."

See, this is the kind of thing that should be treated as an exaggeration to play on people's fears, not terror threats.

Graduate student Jim Lyda, coordinator of the college's Ethnic Diversity Affairs Committee...

Is there any other kind of diversity? I mean, other than intellectual diversity, but we all know how eeeeeevil unpopular thoughts are.

...said students of color in the college have experienced cultural insensitivity from some faculty members.

Wait until you see what passes for "cultural insensitivity." You'll laugh. Then you'll cry. Then you'll bash your head against a brick wall until the pain stops.

He said local schools also have raised concerns that the college produces teachers who lack multicultural skills.

Yeah, because those are more important than TEACHING SKILLS. How dare they try to pass knowledge to others! That would be insensitive!

"That's kind of what we term a crisis," Lyda said.

Since "not white" is what they term "diversity," I wouldn't really pay too much attention to that definition.

The committee, which advocates for students of color in the college, proposed a list of recommendations to the deans in March, including: The creation of a 5-year plan to address the issues; standardized and enforced procedures for handling complaints; and diversity training for staff and faculty.

Are you headbutting bricks yet?

Education Associate Dean for Academic Programs Linda Forrest said EDAC's recommendations have created "powerful dialogue" throughout the college.

"Unless that dialogue doesn't support diversity! That would be a hate crime!"

The College of Education -- which is ranked eighth out of the nation's education graduate schools, according to a 2005 U.S. News and World Report survey -- has many diversity initiatives in place, she said.

"Diversity initiatives?" How many names do they have for this crap?

The school was recently awarded an Interdisciplinary Reading Group Award from the University Center on Diversity and Community, which will allow a group of the college's faculty members to study methods for developing culturally responsive practices.

Hmm...I see that you chose not to focus on the READING aspect of that award. Fascinating.

Shadiin Garcia, student support-services coordinator for the Sapsik'walá (Teacher) Education Program...

I guess English is culturally insensitive.

...said problems have existed in the college for years. But an incident during the February Career Beginnings conference, during which students learn tips for future interviews, "brought it to the forefront," she said.

Let the blowing out of proportion commence.

At the conference, students in the college learned the importance of firm handshakes and direct eye contact when meeting with potential employers. When a student of color...

Notice how they don't say what color. Maybe "person/student of color" is the only correct term now. We wouldn't want them to feel singled out from other races, after all.

...raised concerns that her culture does not encourage such interactions, a comment by Springfield school district's Director of Human Resources Roger Jordan was perceived to be culturally insensitive.

I think it's more culturally insensitive to suggest that one of the most common social practices in the Western world is wrong just because your own culture doesn't use it as often, but that conclusion requires a certain amount of logic.

Jordan said he had explained what he calls "the blemish effect," which is something that might distract a potential employer during the interviewing process, such as cultural differences. He said the meaning was misconstrued and that he did not intend to propose that the student's culture was a "blemish."

I think I know what he meant. You see, people form the majority of their opinions about others within the first few seconds/minutes of meeting them. That means that if you have a weak handshake or don't maintain eye contact, the other person could harbor an unconscious bias against you due to their first impressions.

Once again, sociology and psychology classes pay off BIG TIME! I love it.

"My comments there caused quite a flap at the University," he said. "And that bothers me tremendously."

"You're a racist! Nobody cares what bothers you!"

Since then, Jordan said he has tried to improve his understanding of what it means to be culturally sensitive.

Because it's so wrong to suggest that American business is a culture.

But Garcia said Jordan's comment was offensive. She said that more importantly, faculty members did not have the skills to address the incident at the time or effectively talk to students about it later.

You know what skills it would take? The ability to say "Stop overreacting, you morons. I'm just trying to teach you how to impress people." Problem solved. I guess he should probably skip the "morons" part, though.

"The professors were ill-equipped to deal with it," she said.

Yes, it's the professors who are ill-equipped. Never mind the fact that this "student of color" couldn't fathom the idea that other cultures exist. I'm sure potential employers would love the lecture about how handshakes and eye contact aren't proper behavior. That would break the ice nicely.

Garcia and Lyda said they did not feel comfortable listing other instances of cultural insensitivity for fear of retaliation against the students involved.

That probably means there aren't any more incidents.

"Because of the numbers (of students of color) and the nature of some of the incidents, it's difficult," Lyda said. "You always have to worry about grades or being ostracized."

Must be that got-dang racism infectin' all our impressionable younguns 'n' schoolmarms, dagnabbit.

...No, I don't know why I chose the "19th Century grizzled old man" dialect. Just keep reading.

Forrest said she's aware that fear might exist, but she added that students have many outlets to raise complaints including the Bias Response Team and with herself.

That's a shock.

"What we're trying to communicate to them is it's OK to complain," she said.

"ESPECIALLY if someone dares to tell you that America has a culture of its own!"

In April, representatives from local organizations and schools attended a meeting on campus to address the problems within the college, Lyda said.

"The community kind of joined in to put some pressure on the College of Education to make some changes," he said.

"No more textbooks written by the Evil White Patriarchy™!"

Committee members have also raised concerns that the College of Education is producing future teachers who lack multicultural skills needed for working in increasingly diverse local school districts.

Dang it, they're called "people skills." Just let them learn to deal with PEOPLE. If culture is a problem, the students can adjust to academia, not the other way around.

Forrest said Jefferson Middle School has been reluctant to allow graduates or students of the University's College of Education to practice teaching at the school.

"I would say it has to do with wanting greater confidence in the cultural competency," she said. "I think we're working to change that."

And I'm sure that prohibiting them from practicing will make them much better teachers, too. You idiots.

Eugene 4-J School District's Human Resources Director Wally Bryant said the school's reluctance to bring in student teachers from the college was a protest against the college's multicultural shortcomings. He added that he feels the quality of job applicants is improving, however, which is important because Eugene's demographics are changing.

Now I'm just confused. I think I've been the victim of doublespeak.

"Cultural competency is one of the things we're looking for in candidates," he said. While he is satisfied with the students coming from the college, Bryant said anything the University can do to improve those skills is appreciated.

I think it's interesting how the increased focus on "cultural competency" is coinciding with the massive decrease in school quality. It's almost as if they're not actually teaching knowledge...

Forrest said it is important for faculty members within the college to learn to be more supportive and respectful of cultural differences.

"We need to model that for students in our classrooms who are going to be teaching in public schools," she said.

I've really had about enough of this. How come we're expected to accomodate every single cultural difference under the sun, but nobody is ever expected to give an inch or two and adjust to American culture? At least make the effort, people.

I can't wait until students are required to learn 100 foreign languages before they can get a high school diploma.

Posted by CD on June 8, 2004 07:45 PM
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