The diversity clearinghouse project at San Francisco State University can be adapted to any discipline, especially character education.

SHARE ONLINE RESOURCES EMPHASIZING DIVERSITY
By Michael Bugeja, Ph.D. Ohio University

COPYRIGHT 2001 by Michael Bugeja and Character Education Ltd.
All Rights Reserved

As universities nationwide emphasize the importance of diversity as a key component of character, more professors are including innovative components, exercises, and assignments to their course syllabi. Some disciplines are developing courses focusing entirely on diversity.

At many institutions, journalism and mass communication programs have taken the lead because their students must interact effectively with others and cover global issues involving diversity.

With that in mind, Dara Williams, former journalist for the Associated Press, is directing an important project in association with the Center for Integration and Improvement in Journalism at San Francisco State University's Journalism Department.

I became familiar with Williams' clearinghouse project when invited to submit my online syllabus and journalism diversity page to News Watch, affiliated with the Center.

All past directors of News Watch are veteran reporters. Williams, for instance, worked for the AP for 9.5 years. The staff is comprised of journalism students from San Francisco State University.

"The overall goal of News Watch," says Williams in an email interview, "is to be a resource for working journalists and journalism educators to help improve the U.S. news media coverage of people of color, gays and lesbians, and people with disabilities."

In that respect, News Watch can be considered "a clearinghouse of information on, and a place for dialogue about, diversity in the news," she adds.

"This is not about being politically correct, but rather being fair and accurate so that mainstream news coverage truly reflects the ever-increasing diverse country we live in. To that end, we believe that journalism education should include a solid class and discussion about diversity."

Terry Anderson, former bureau chief for the Associated Press in Lebanon, created a Media and Diversity class last year at Ohio University, where he was a visiting professor for three years.

Anderson's goal as a professor was to raise awareness about diversity in the media. Usually such issues do not involve blatant racism, he says, but much more subtle matters of stereotyping people, mischaracterizating events, ignoring coverage or worse, ignorance of issues.

"A simple diversity course--even a three-credit class--can go a long way in communicating to students that there are issues, that these are the issues, and that you should be aware of them," he adds.

The diversity class had another benefit, Anderson notes. "It made students better consumers of media. All of my students told me at the end of class that they simply did not notice these diversity issues and now see them everywhere in media."

Anderson relied on his news savvy, experience, and contacts to help create the class, which grew out of a diversity workshop for the faculty of the E.W. Scripps School. Necessity may have been the mother of invention, but both Anderson and I could have benefited from a clearinghouse similar to the one that Williams is assembling for News Watch.

Says Williams, "Our aim with the syllabus project is to get college educators to begin sharing ideas about how to teach diversity in print, broadcast and online journalism. We hope that this will encourage and inspire colleges and universities that don't provide such classes or discussions to do so."

Williams' project, of course, can inspire similar clearinghouses in any discipline. An online "diversity in history" or "diversity in sociology" site can help accomplish the same goals as the News Watch emphasis on journalism education. Equally as important is a clearinghouse of best diversity practices involving character education. Given the presence of electronic media, any discipline, especially character-enriching ones, can incorporate media content on diversity into syllabi or curriculum.

"While News Watch's target audience is comprised of working journalists and journalism educators," Williams notes, "we encourage educators in other disciplines to also offer such classes or at the very least incorporate some discussion about diversity in the U.S. news media into current courses."

Erek Perry, assistant to the President on diversity issues and programming at Ohio University, believes that a clearinghouse that serves as resource for faculty is critical and necessary. "To provide a hub of syllabi that clearly outlines ways in which the academy can integrate diversity into its curriculum is long overdue," he says. "It is good to know of an institution that has     accepted the responsibility to fill the void regarding this important need."

The News Watch syllabus project should be online by the end of October. To access the News Watch site before then, visit this URL: http://newswatch.sfsu.edu/.

Other organizations partnering with News Watch that can provide additional resource material in journalism include:

• Asian American Journalism Association (www.aaja.org).
• National Association of Black Journalists (www.nabj.org). 
• National Association of Hispanic Journalists (www.nahj.org). 
• Native American Journalists Association (www.naja.com). 
• National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association (www.nlgja.org).
• Unity Journalists (www.unityjournalists.org).

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Build Diversity into Strategic Planning

Strategic planning often overlooks the importance of character education. Most presidents and provosts emphasize shared governance, but the most insightful leaders also emphasize shared values.
 

BUILD DIVERSITY INTO STRATEGIC PLANNING
By Michael Bugeja, Ph.D. Ohio University

COPYRIGHT 2000 by Michael Bugeja and Character Education Ltd.
All Rights Reserved
 

At Ohio University, our strategic plan—conceived by members of the administration, staff, faculty, and student body—identified several core values, among them:

1.     Diversity: dignity, respect, and learning from the differences that enrich our environment.
2.     Cooperation and collaboration.
3.     Civility.
4.     Internationalization: curriculum, cultural awareness, campus community.
 

The first core value clearly articulates the importance of diversity, along with the means to attain it—through dignity, respect, and learning (associated with ethics).  The other components above expand on diversity because they stress viewpoint:  “seeing the world from another person’s eyes or perspective.” Cooperation, collaboration, civility, and internationalization all hinge on viewpoint.

This has produced long-term results because administrators and professors routinely consider diversity and viewpoint during planning and policy-making processes. As such, policies unite constituents philosophically as well as politically and so foster conscientious leadership and responsible innovation.

This would not likely have occurred without presidential leadership. Robert Glidden, President of Ohio University, repeatedly has stressed the importance of ethical dialogue across campus. That emphasis ultimately led to creation of “Your PATH at Ohio,” a character- and community-building philosophy based on personal accountability, trust, and honor. (For more information about PATH, see: http://www.ohiou.edu/president/programs/PATH.html.) The PATH philosophy reminds faculty and administrators to ponder these higher principles when addressing challenges or resolving problems.

One such challenge has been advancement for women of color. Since arriving at Ohio University in 1994, President Glidden has worked in conjunction with Provost Sharon Brehm and select vice presidents to help establish leadership positions for women of color. Sometimes those positions were directly associated with diversity or multicultural programs; other times, they were associated with traditional University functions.

Janice Edwards, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs, who coordinates Intercultural Affairs for her division, believes “that African American women in higher educational leadership at predominantly white colleges and universities face difficulties that are unique to us alone.

“Issues of racism, sexism, and tokenism present problems that challenge us both personally and professionally.”

However, Dr. Edwards stressed, if women of color are going to secure leadership positions within higher educational administration, they must develop “the ability to perceive racism and sexism more as negotiable challenges than as immovable obstacles.” That brings ethics into play, affirming the university’s commitment to resolve challenges collectively via personal accountability, trust, and honor.

As Dr. Edwards acknowledges, shared values are vital for women of color to advance in academe. In particular, she says, “African American women in higher educational administration must seek opportunities for sponsorship and support across lines of race and gender.”

Dr. Edwards believes that women of color “should not expect to receive rewards for our work in traditional ways, rather, we must work to recognize and accept the intrinsic rewards found in working diligently and consistently for the greater good.”

Gitanjali Kaul, Associate Provost for Assessment and Institutional Research, is mindful of the common good in all her interactions on campus. “For me to fulfill my own potential I need to be in harmony with my environment, which in turn requires that I open my mind and accept the respect, civility and goodwill that surrounds me,” she says in an email interview. “I work at keeping an open mind, constantly being aware of the fact that the world does not have independent qualities, and that I am accountable for the role I play in shaping my environment.

“In response to those who attempt to understand and cherish diversity,” she adds, “I have the added responsibility of turning my ‘differentness’ into a thing of value. Of course, not all aspects of my ‘differentness’ are of value either.

“Maybe, life is about turning our seemingly innocuous characteristics into strengths.”

Dr. Kaul believes that diversity should be promoted as a virtue, in keeping with character education initiatives. Indeed, a commitment to diversity is a civic as well as institutional virtue. According to Dr. Kaul, “Advancing the cause of minority groups requires not only sensitivity training for the white population but also programs to help minority groups value and accept responsibility for new opportunities.”

Dr. Kaul appreciates the PATH philosophy’s focus on role models—those whose values we admire and adopt as our own. “A role model is anyone who has traits worth emulating, irrespective of race, color, or national origin,” she says.

Dr. Edwards and Dr. Kaul are only two of many who contribute to and advance diversity at Ohio University. They do so in interaction with others, living their ethics and thereby teaching others because of their values.

Moreover, the emphasis on diversity as an ethical construct ensures that future generations of learners will cherish and safeguard this core value as much as we do at Ohio University.

Diversity builds an institution’s character, especially if it is built into the planning process. To do so, when creating policy or action plans, ask:

• How will this policy or plan affect stakeholders of different ethnic heritage, culture, lifestyle, social class, and gender? 
• Have we built into the policy or plan an expanded awareness of or sensitivity to diversity and viewpoint? If not, who might be consulted on campus or externally to ensure that we have? 
• How can diversity and viewpoint enhance the intended reach and scope of the policy or plan?

Basic questions like these often spark essential dialogues among colleagues, reaffirming our common bonds as educators, along with the common good.