From having the world on his shoulders

While the rich kids is driving Benz

I’m still trying to hold on to my surviving friends

And it’s crazy, it seems it’ll never let up, but

please... you got to keep your head up

-Tupac
 

Due to all of the strategic directions taken, Macalester is back in the U.S. News and World Report Top 25. The administration rejoices. The board of trustees rejoices. The faculty rejoices. The staff rejoices. The students rejoice…well…not all of the students. If you only read the report on Macalester’s website, you may have missed something: a category entitled “Campus Diversity: Liberal Arts Colleges-Bachelor’s.” Allow me to spare you the effort of searching for Macalester on the list. We are not in the Top 10. We are not in the Top 20. Not in the Top 25… oh wait, there we are…tied for 28th. Although this may not seem too far from reaching another Top 25 to join in on our celebration, there are numerous ties. Macalester is the 53rd name down the list and is in an 11-way tie for 28th place. In fact, we are tied with the University of Minnesota-Morris…Morris…hmmm… out in Southwestern Minnesota…but Carleton is tied at 24th….

What is the purpose of this article? An introduction to my incessant rants about campus diversity, of course. U.S. News has our diversity index at 0.27 on a scale of zero to 1.0. As stated on the U.S. News website, “The closer a school’s number is to 1.0, the more diverse is the student population.” With our urban location and prestigious name, we should have higher numbers and not be tied with U of M-Morris…

Sadly, this is not something new. This issue has been going on for about ten years now (maybe 20 depending on who you ask). In fact, this is not even a concern on Macalester’s list, as nothing has been said so far…Makes you wonder how serious this commitment to “multiculturalism” really is….

There is one group that has consistently been worried/vocal about this issue and it is the students of color themselves. Logic is not prevalent here when the institution is looking up at the flag of diversity they raised when they are not looking down to see what is really going on with the students. Whenever I think of this state, I hear Tupac in my head (hence the quote). Students of color have such a burden on this campus it can only be categorized as something beyond a paradox, sprinkled with conformity, tied in with the twilight zone and the upcoming California election. This has been going on long enough that students of color actually tell jokes about it. For those that don’t understand what I have been highlighting, allow me to tell some jokes with the hope that it will provide clarity.

-Students of color protested the tokenism at Macalester on the steps of the capital. They took one car.

-Five students of color protested the Admissions Office’s policy of recruitment. The other had a night class from 7– 10 p.m.

-Students of color need to take a bus ride to find familiar food.

-Two students of color are officers in five cultural groups.

-Three students of color walk into a classroom…and they all sit together.

-A student of color walks into the Cultural House…looks around…then walks out of the C-house.

-Two students of color sitting together in Café Mac. One asks the other where the rest are. The other just stares…

-A student of color walks into the sophomore fiesta and finds only 3 Latinos. They are performing.

-Students of color find more students of color at Concordia University.

-A student of color says ‘hi’ to a new first-year student of color…no response…

-A student of color picks up the Tapestry and dreams.

-Students of color have the burden of recruiting more students of color.

-Students of color also have the burden of promoting multiculturalism and still have Macalester pride.

-Students of color can easily count the amount of students of color on campus.

-Students of color wonder where the staff of color is.

-Students of color wonder where the people of color in the Twin Cities are.

-Students of color are more likely to catch the disease “burning out” than other students.

-Students of color are expected to contribute to cultural programming for the entire campus.

-One student of color… one student of color is not rejoicing….