So, Whitman is racially homogenous. Seventy-one percent of students are white, and within the “ethnic diversity” category on the school’s website, the leading subdivision, 8 percent, is mixed race.
As many students agree (but don’t do much about), this lack of diversity is massive and problematic. Not only does it reflect poorly on the priorities of Whitman’s admissions team, it also provides a sort of sheltering of students, many of whom came from affluent, white neighborhoods and attended private schools.
To be fair, I am sorta one of those kids. But, my school experience was unique: I went to Garfield High School, a very diverse public high school in Seattle, and then attended an academic boarding school in the Southeast. Despite being private and expensive, the boarding school was much more diverse, with 16 percent international students and 30 percent minorities making up a student body of less than 300 students. Like Whitman, my boarding school was not nationally recognized, very localized, and was attractive to rich, white, suburban people. Still, the school maintained a magical mix of liberals, conservatives, Catholics, atheists, Southerners, Northerners, yuppies, townies, and minorities.
I think plenty of students at Whitman have also experienced racially diverse environments, and just because they are white and middle class doesn’t mean they are spoiled and sheltered. I can’t be the only one who didn’t know I’d be entering such a homogenous campus, and no group of students should be blamed for this problem. It’s a problem of the school, the administration and admissions.
My only guess as to why Whitman’s desire to be diverse hasn’t translated is because the school doesn’t really have a lot of desire in the first place. Whitman students and administration alike constantly talk about the diversity problem, but it doesn’t seem like anyone has adjusted their mentality to change it. To make such a dramatic change, the school needs to put all their resources in.
Of course, there are plans. Kazi Joshua, who heads the school’s new Diversity Council, said last semester, "From everything I know, Whitman is poised and serious about going this direction. If I didn't believe that, I wouldn't [have come] to Whitman." But, as far as the website says, the Diversity Council’s job is just to “help generate and define the initial stages of the college's diversity plan.” So, really, there is no plan, just a council aimed at creating a plan.
Now, I am just a tiny little Odyssey writer, not a member of ASWC. I probably know very little about what is actually going on within the administration to make this change. But, I think it’s right to question it. Are students able to be as proactive as they can be? How can we be more involved in this? Why is there seemingly little communication between what the school is executing and how the students feel? It's a bad sign that everyone is still talking about it while no one has answers. It's been since January that the student body received an email regarding the acknowledgement and plan to change the ethnic diversity at Whitman.
Anyone who supports the cause should still be asking: what can we do? There is always more to understand and fight for.
