In class we explored the different newspaper exposure for all different types of demographics. One of the areas in which we were looking was race. Which race or races were getting the most exposure and is this the way it should be. Instead of looking at this issue, I immediately began to think of how Ohio Northern deals with race and diversity. To me, it is a very comical approach.
In my five years at Ohio Northern there has been a steady increase in the desire to promote diversity on campus (at least from my vantage point). As a student it was apparent in the sheer increase in minority enrollment. Every year there was a noticeably greater racial minority population on campus. Now that I work in the office of communications and marketing, it is obvious that this happened because of a conscious effort by the university.
The comical part is that even though there was been an increase, Ohio Northern is absolutely not a place were diversity is flourishing. From what I see on campus, and without hard data in which to base this judgment, the overwhelming population is still middle- to upper-class white people. So instead of promoting what we are and giving an accurate representation of the school, we still promote that we are a diverse institution.
Here is a funny example to make my point. Last year Ohio Northern won the All-Sports Trophy for both the men's and women's programs for the second consecutive year. Accomplishing this the first year was notable, but doing this the second time in a row was unprecedented (Note: we have all but won this trophy on both sides again this year for the third straight time). About this time last year, the decision is made to take a picture with all the team captains (or important members) from our 21 sports. We take the picture, and people who make decisions at the school reviewed it. Well, we were not going to be able to use the picture anywhere on our Web site or in any of our publications because the picture did not show diversity. Of the 21 sports at ONU, maybe two were of a racial minority. In the end, we took a picture of four student-athletes who happened to be around during the summer, with one of them being of color. I guess when you have 1-of-4, it better demonstrates diversity than 2-of-21.
This is a good example of how media can show you EXACTLY what it wants to portray regardless if the information is accurate or credible.
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This is interesting anecdotal evidence to support what the articles were illustrating. Why do you suppose that ONU is making an attempt to demonstrate that it is racially diverse? I know that BGSU has had similar initiatives, and yet, I noticed last night at the Grad College graduation that every person on the stage was (or appeared to be) white. [Of course, we know that racial categories are socially constructed]. The notion of "diversity" seems to be a buzzword that conveys "coded" information, but I doubt that it reflects the "reality" of what it must be like for a person of color to actually attend BGSU, or ONU for that matter.
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