As Chair of the Diversity Council, Literature Professor Robert Cancel is committed to enhancing campus diversity and ensuring a welcoming environment for everyone at UC San Diego. He discusses the importance of campus diversity and ensuring UCSD’s ability to recruit students who truly represent San Diego and our state.

Cancel: First, it is important to understand the concept of diversity. In part, it means a central principle of inclusion; our university works with the San Diego and state community to make this an exceptional institution of higher learning. As a state institution, we have the responsibility to reflect the character of our city and state at all levels, including faculty, students, staff, and administration. If we fail in this duty we run the risk of creating a stark "ivory tower" isolation that in the long run will impoverish UCSD and reduce its relevance in an increasingly globalized national and international environment. While there is a certain degree of altruism in this line of thinking, there should also be a realization that the economic and social ethos of our country and our international neighbors is rapidly changing and we must keep up with the world as it evolves if we are to survive and, indeed, thrive under these new conditions.

Cancel: The Diversity Council serves as an advisory body to the Chancellor of UCSD. Among our duties, we advise the Chancellor on the appropriate goals to which UC San Diego should aspire in creating a diverse campus community and assess progress toward achieving those goals. We are charged with identifying the barriers to achieving greater diversity at UCSD and provide recommendations on how we can overcome those barriers. A detailed description of the Diversity Council is available on the "Diversity Matters" Web site at http://diversity.ucsd.edu. The Council is made up of a cross-section of UCSD faculty, staff, students, administrators, the directors of the three Community Centers (Cross Cultural Center, Women’s Center, and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center), and three at-large members of the San Diego community.

Cancel: That question is at the center of the efforts of many people on campus. If we consider, for example, diversity in the student body, we need to find ways to recruit and retain underrepresented students. Even when UCSD admits underrepresented students with excellent academic records, many choose to go elsewhere. The reasons for this can be something as simple as money, where high-powered private universities can offer types of scholarships and financial aid that may not be available at UCSD. It may also be that prospective students visit campus and do not easily recognize or identify communities of like-minded people who might provide support and collegiality. We can address these problems by developing funding sources for scholarships. We can support student organizations and campus events, or even public art that reflects diverse populations and ideas. When it comes to retention, the campus must support all students with tutoring help and research opportunities. In the case of faculty or staff, it is important to offer mentoring and opportunities for advancement. Further, the Diversity Council is encouraging the creation and implementation of surveys directly related to demographics and perceptions of campus climate in order to address specific issues that arise. I believe there is honest commitment and good will in the efforts to achieve diversity, from the president of the University of California, to our own Chancellor Fox, and many dedicated people here at UCSD.

Cancel: It is difficult to get past an attitude that cynically equates the concept of diversity with "Affirmative Action," while this latter term is often associated with "falling standards," or giving people something they do not deserve. Affirmative Action was not a goal but a means to an end, and the goal was to achieve diversity in the face of a monumental historical imbalance. Some members of the public are suspicious of what are truly creative and promising ways to evaluate student admission applications. It's important that we have a comprehensive system of admissions that simply tries to find commonality or equivalence, more broadly than in raw numbers, in order to identify students with a high potential for success at UCSD and, by extension, the wider world, after graduation.

Cancel: As a baby boomer growing up in a working class town in Long Island, New York, I had the benefit of a real commitment to public education at the state and local level. In addition to the basic academic curriculum, we also had access to classes in music and art, which are rarities these days in California, and very inexpensive hot lunches were provided in school cafeterias to ensure students were well-nourished during the school day. My parents came from Puerto Rico and I did not speak English until I was five years old. Many of my classmates from my neighborhood, who were mostly Puerto Rican or African American, simply could not take advantage of the opportunity to grab onto that lower rung and climb the ladder that education provided. Despite the efforts of well-meaning teachers and counselors, many students faced substantial social and economic barriers to these fleeting opportunities. As our cultural hybridity, which is not quite the same as the old "melting pot" analogy, continues to grow, I am concerned that students are still facing these barriers. I’ve taught here for over 26 years and I want to see the members of our diverse campus community succeed and thrive.

Cancel: This is a difficult question to answer simply. Certainly, systemwide, the University of California has more Asian students than ever before. There is an amazing range of national and ethnic variety within that single category, including, among others, students of Thai, Vietnamese, Hmong, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Pilipino, and Samoan ancestry. This has added a welcome dimension of diversity. But I see fewer African Americans on campus than ever before, and definitely Latino student enrollment numbers are much lower than they were in the 1980s. I suspect there any number of students, faculty and staff on campus who remain hesitant to declare their sexual identities for fear of rejection or reprisals. On the positive side, I believe UCSD is a leader in several initiatives that are working to improve diversity: comprehensive admissions practices, student community centers, and organizations and committees striving to safeguard everyone’s right to study and work here to their fullest potential.

Cancel: No, I don’t think it’s fair. The system responds to conditions as they exist. The University of California has had to work within the restrictions imposed by Proposition 209. It also has had to serve constituencies that consist of faculties of varied interests and socio-political stances. Every campus has to reconcile the needs and demands of departments in the arts, humanities, sciences and social sciences, along with their respective scholarly and economic modes of operation. The University is a state institution and is therefore subject to governance by the Regents of the State of California, political pressures from Sacramento, and public perceptions that range widely from supportive to antagonistic positions. I believe President Dynes is trying in good faith to guide the University through this complex of interests toward a positive, nurturing and productive atmosphere on all campuses.

Cancel: There are a lot of activities on campus that tap into interests and groups that represent the university’s diversity. These can be tracked on the "Diversity Matters" Web site, as well as through the Web sites of the three campus community centers: Cross Cultral Center, Women’s Center and the LGBT Resource Center. They all have regularly scheduled programs of speakers and events. In the next two quarters, our campus will host a project called "Place Matters," sponsored by University Events’ ArtPower!, as well as other departments, colleges and faculty members. This will be, in the words of UEO Director Marty Wollenson, "the most comprehensive interdisciplinary arts initiative in the history of UC San Diego, exploring issues of community, civic engagement ands leadership."

Cancel: The Chief Diversity Officer of the campus is a link to all the levels of our community, charged with promoting diversity in all its manifestations. Professor Huerta, as CDO, is an ex-officio member of the Council. This means that he attends all meetings, may make reports on relevant activities and concerns on campus, and contributes to discussions, but does not vote. Moreover, the CDO is an advocate for the Diversity Council’s proposals and suggestions that are sent through to the Chancellor and other relevant campus officers. Since the Chancellor's Advisory Committees answer to and advise the Chancellor, the Associate Chancellor and CDO serves as a liaison between said parties. Prof. Huerta is assisted by Glynda Davis, who works closely with him and whose appointment as Director of Campus Diversity Initiatives affords her direct communication with all concerned.