The failure of non-minorities to land diversity positions speaks to a larger institutional dilemma. If we can’t get beyond the symbolism of visible diversity, the intent of these “diversity” jobs and their role in advancing university missions will never be realized. Now that we have a Black president of the United States the pressure is on universities to revise their conceptions of who is appropriate for what administrative job and diversify accordingly.
In sum, more diversity officers should look like me. More professionals of color and women should be presidents, chancellors and provosts. Without such diversity throughout a university’s administrative ranks, it will lose moral authority. It will not model the behavior it claims to instill in its graduates. And it will become increasingly estranged from a post-racial America that will deliver generations of hopefuls to campus. — Dr. Daryl E. Chubin is director of the Center for Advancing Science & Engineering Capacity at the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
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