iversity is a term that gets used a lot these days, particularly around higher education. There is perhaps no single more important issue at colleges like Colby, and at the same time there are few words that have such a diversity of meanings. At Colby alone, diversity concerns include (but are not limited to) recruiting a diverse student body and faculty; expanding the canon of important, teachable works; making the community welcoming, respectful and comfortable for people from all backgrounds; and, as in the cases Watson and Hill, learning how the world both looks and operates for different people who have different perspectives.

"The number one reason [for an institutional interest in diversity] is the educational benefit," said Associate Dean of Students and Director of Intercultural Affairs Jeri Roseboro.

Some dimensions of diversity have challenged students and enriched Colby's educational experience ever since the College was founded in the early 19th century. But as America examined notions of equality during and since the Civil Rights movement, especially along racial lines, diversity has presented multiple and perennial challenges for liberal arts colleges, particularly those in northern New England. Now there's a strong sense on campus, based on events of the past year, that decades of interest in and work these issues have brought diversity to a new level of prominence at Colby. Interest, activity and commitment on the part of students, faculty and administration are at an all-time high.

Most visibly, in March, Colby students initiated and played host to a two-day Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Diversity Conference exploring race, religion and sexuality issues at the three colleges (see "Valuing Differences"). In April, President William D. Adams issued a letter outlining the College's goals and objectives and more than a dozen concrete initiatives for understanding, enhancing and welcoming diversity. And during the school year, students and faculty spontaneously started a variety of diversity-supporting initiatives and events.

All of these developments suggest there was widespread agreement when Adams, in his inaugural address, called for a heightened awareness and understanding of diversity issues. "We are in this together," he said. "We cannot get to where we want to go unless we all understand ourselves to be pulling on the same rope." He charged everyone with putting diversity at the head of the agenda. "Everyone," he said, "needs to be on this train all the time."

Adams puts "improving the campus climate" first on his list of objectives, to ensure that every individual is a fully privileged, empowered, comfortable member of the Colby community. He also said there must be a "willingness to admit that all of us, regardless of our backgrounds or current commitments or places in the institutional structure, have a great deal to learn about this matter and its complexities. Seeing ourselves as learners will be helpful in at least two ways: it will give us the eagerness and openness of learners, while it also will promote understanding of the inevitable false starts and temporary setbacks of the learning process."

In the context of liberal learning, diversity implies openness to a broad spectrum of ideas, liberal and conservative, on the subject of diversity as on any topic, and it remains an underlying principle of the institution for people with wide-ranging philosophies to be heard and to be part of the debate.

Roseboro notes that diversity was high on the agenda of the Board of Trustees and the presidential search committee that recruited Adams, and she expressed optimism about future progress. "There's a quote from one of the higher education journals I read that says, 'Real change requires more than new rhetoric and well-intended add-ons to current practices,'" Roseboro said. "That's exactly where he has taken us. The steps he's taken are the ones that had to happen."

"An important aspect of diversity involves the ability to embrace different stories in a way that allows us to embrace different truths. . . . Having a range of voices and a range of stories enriches the national dialogue, our schools, our institutions, our lives and the possibilities of who we can become as human beings. . . . I find people interesting and engaging precisely because their experiences and their realities have been so different from my own. . . . I am so charged by the idea of the conference, the response, the importance that you've given it, the initial statement that you made by organizing the conference. You have made an important statement."
Actor/Activist Danny Glover, keynote speaker at the first CBB Diversity Conference