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Assessing the Diversity Needs of Eastern Oregon
University
Professional Development Module Eastern Oregon University
University of Oregon
Center on Diversity and Community
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“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing
can be changed until it is faced.”
-James Baldwin
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Mini “Survey” with EOU Community
Members• Perception of campus climate
•EOU’s priority needs/concerns in terms of diversity
• Goals/Hopes
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EOU Needs Assessment: Main Themes
• Poor relationship with administration
• Perceived lack of leadership• Major communication issues• Infrastructure issues• Low morale• Not knowing how to talk to one
another about diversity issues• Relationship between student-
athletes and general student population is strained
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Poor Relationship with Administration
• Deep distrust • Lack of mutual respect • Perception that the
Administration not around very much
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Perceived lack of leadership
• Unstable leadership with high turnover
• No ownership of diversity issues– Excuses offered: “I’m not
qualified”
• Perceived lack of follow through on important issues
• Reactive rather than pro-active• In a “fog” in terms of next steps
– “Where are we going? What are we doing? Nobody knows what to do”
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Major Communication Issues• Either/or thinking about complex
issues– Forced to take sides
• Information from administration doesn’t flow down – “It’s difficult to get straight information
from on high”– “people end up hanging onto partial
truths”– “the administration talks to the press but
not to us”
• Faculty, staff, students don’t feel heard
• Policies are unclear, undeveloped and/or invisible– Information on website hard to find
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Infrastructure Issues
• Perceived disconnect at all levels– Lack of skills, knowledge, awareness on
issues of diversity
• Role conflicts• No clear place/procedure to report
issues of bias/harassment • No clear place to voice concerns
– “what do you do if you have a problem with student affairs? Who do you go to then?”
• Focus on recruitment and not retention“Administrators think that throwing people
together should be enough”
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Morale Issues• “It’s not a happy campus right now. There
needs to be some major changes right now.”
• fueled by several major issues – Budget– Low confidence in leadership– Controversial incidents
• -“being a small campus, things become very personal very quickly”
• Anger, resentment, disillusionment, distrust, loss of hope
• Students of color feeling demoralized, isolated, and scared– “walking around campus you hear comments”– “I am not a threat to this community or society”– Student athletes’ addresses printed in student
paper
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Not Knowing how to Talk About Diversity Issues• Awkward and uncomfortable
– “it takes a crisis and a couple of students’ lives to talk about this”
• Lacking skills to facilitate conversations
• No clear definition of what is meant by diversity
• No agreement on its relative importance and value
• Being “conflict avoidant” is part of the culture
• The reality of Eastern Oregon: rural, isolated, White, conservative, distinct culture
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Relationship b/t student-athletes and general student population is strained
• Athletes seen as removed from general student body
• Perception that athletes are above reproach/get away with things
• Issues compounded for male athletes of color – especially football players
• Lack of knowledge/relationship adds to distrust, stereotypes, and racism
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EOU Goals and Hopes• Feeling heard by administration• Greater ownership of the issues by
administration (knowledge, awareness, and skills)
• Clear understanding of the importance and meaning of diversity
• Clear procedures for protocols• Diversity training for
administration, faculty, and staff• Plan/sense of next steps• “I want something to come out of
this (our visit) , not just a one day event, kumbaya, then it’s gone.”
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Reasons for Committing to Diversity in Higher Education: • Demographic Argument
– Projections indicate that by 2050, White Americans will drop to 50% of the population
• Moral/Social Justice Argument– Redress historic/contemporary inequality
• Civic Argument– Civic value and responsibility of creating an
educated citizenry• Enrichment/Professional Standards*
Argument – Diversity brings new ways of thinking– Expectations within professions to be effective
with diverse populations• Political Argument
– Politically expedient to address • Economic/Global Argument
– Taking advantage of emerging markets (Editors’ Notes. New Directions for Teaching and
Learning, v49 1992)
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In your leadership role you will be asked to justify why diversity initiatives are a compelling interest for EOU. Take a few
minutes to immerse yourself in one of the arguments for committing to
diversity in higher education.
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Examples of Immediate Goals:• create non-punitive environment to
discuss issues • common definitions and understandings• sense of team/cohesiveness among
leadership• greater clarity about what it means to
EOU to commit to diversity • raise awareness• stronger knowledge base• instructional support (“left field”
moments)• clarify infrastructure and chain of
command
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Building & Fortifying the Infrastructure for Diversity at EOU: Examples of Long Term Goals
• how to keep issues on the table with clear forum/channels to discuss
• how to move beyond diversity as a “competing demand”
• commitment to ongoing awareness, knowledge, skills development
• collective ownership of the issues • raising morale – striking balance
b/t positive and negative