“A Wittenberg education prepares students for the challenge and responsibility of global citizenship. Through our curriculum, study-abroad opportunities and the enriching presence of international students, we engage [in] the complexity of the human experience [and] learning about and from cultures around the world. We are committed to providing opportunities for students to interact with others of widely different backgrounds, seeking common solutions to problems facing our world.”
That is the mission Witt follows for our “global citizenship.” The real question is, where is the global citizenship in our professors? We are starting to look like we have very little diversity within our faculty. The student body is only exposed to so much diversity, and as a black student on campus, it frustrates me sometimes when I don’t see a variety of professors that look like me. Students of different races need people who they feel they can relate to when things are difficult.
It also looks good on the campus when we have all these different kinds of people; I mean, who really wants to be at a school with very little diversity? That’s boring. We need to embrace these unique and beautiful faces, and show other campuses that we are open to change. One of the big points of coming to college is to broaden your horizons and get experienced with a wide range of individuals. College is supposed to get you prepared for the different kinds of people you will work with in the future. It is imperative for people to be exposed to different people and cultures. It makes one have a different perspective on the mind and appreciate the uniqueness of those individuals.
With all the cutting of the different professors who bring diversity here, it’s upsetting to people of other races because we aren’t following our mission statement, and it’s also starting to feel like Witt doesn’t want diversity here. It makes me think of other potential students of color who want to come here: how will they want to have a career here when they see very few people they can relate to?
This has been something that I have been struggling with as a student of color on campus. I want more of our faculty to be of all different types of colors and come from different backgrounds, because the student body needs to see and appreciate the differences of people in the world.
I just want this to make the Wittenberg board and faculty think about how this is affecting students of other races on campus and students, period. I understand we are having financial issues, but let’s not be so quick to cut the professors who bring something unusual to our campus. It’s time for us to uphold that mission statement, not contradict ourselves.
Whenever diversity is discussed, I notice that the subject is limited to diversify of race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity or culture. Conspicuous by its absence is diversity of political thought. How many of the Wittenberg faculty or administration are political conservatives? Are students truly educated if not exposed to different points of view in a truly objective way? Are today’s colleges and universities institutions of learning or indoctrination factories where instructors carefully mold students to their own political bias?