Social and institutional change is born in struggle. As a Chicana in higher education, I know this from my experience as a diversity educator with deep roots in the cultural borderlands of U.S. society. I also know that access to education for diverse students is a cornerstone of our future as a democratic society.
As our institutions struggle to balance their budgets, institutional leaders are understandably on the lookout for any unit or program that is “underperforming,” “wasteful,” or nonessential. They’re looking for savings that will not diminish their stature, cut into their core mission, or erode “excellence” as it is currently defined.
What I want to argue is that this is not the time to pull back on investments in diversity. In fact, in these times of staggering economic, demographic, and cultural change, mission-driven investments in diversity are more important than ever. Diversity work can no longer be “other duties as assigned”; diversity must be a core value that drives budget decisions and, in the end, drives institutional transformation.
Investing in diversity means investing in institutional sustainability and in sustainable, long-term economic recovery. If we don’t invest in diversity, we perpetuate opportunity and achievement gaps. We put at risk the educational systems that are so central not only to economic prosperity but also to social and economic justice.
In short, we ignore diversity at our peril.
We have been talking about diversity in higher education for a long time. But it’s not at all clear that the prevailing discourse includes harnessing diversity as a central and necessary strategy for institutional transformation and sustainability.
A vital future for higher education won’t grow out of existing institutional systems, with their traditional leadership models and entrenched academic culture. It will grow in reimagined academic and cultural spaces at the intersections of multiple identities, cultures, systems of thought and knowledge traditions.
