Report on the Roundtable on
Leaders: Alec Horniman and Monica Nixon
Members: Allison Linney, Barbara Millar, Thomas Hall, Keira Kant, Laurie Koehler, Caroline Altman, Wynne Stuart, Jylinda White, Lori Willy, Theresa Carroll, Sharad Jhunjhunwala, Sam Le, Tom Kennedy, Neil Bynum, Patrice Hughes, Shamim Sisson
--refined scope of mission
--there is ÒstaticÓ diversity (statistics?) and there is ÒdynamicÓ diversity (people and the
quality of the environment?)
--identified 5 domains: curriculum, admission and orientation, housing, student
self-governance,social space and social activities
--Opportunities for diversity enhancement exist in many spheres of student development
--Diversity understood both as 1) a concept for understanding and
2) as a way of life for enriched community learning
--UVa to be recognized for academics, honor system, and diverse community
--Diversity is a vital part of the culture of the community, diversity provides an attraction
to come to UVa
--5 groups that undertook to work through a process modeling the goal of diversity Ð
Òrespect, challenge, cooperation based on trustÓ
--included large group settings, small groups, and individually
--Not comprehensive, through consensus-building and narrowing of focus, Roundtable members selected the undergraduate student experience only
Recommendations
--Establish an Office of Multicultural
Affairs to spearhead efforts
--Establish diversity course required during the second year
--Admission/Orientation be further supported to make diversity an intentional topic of
discussion and be demonstrated in print, web, live presentations
--Encourage intentional housing options and processes that support diversity
--Engage student self-governance to intentionally embrace diversity in every aspect
--Develop a Òsocial space mapÓ to identify how space is used and how it could be created
to support inclusive use patterns
summarized by Suzanne Louis, 10/09/03