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do you find it bothersome when the representation of Asians on the football team is "alarmingly low" or when the representation of whites on the basketball team is "alarmingly low"? How can women get by on the softball field and in the nursing schools without a male point of view? If diversity is so vital, why are there still thousands of black students who choose to go to historically black colleges?
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<p>With apologies to Coaches Carr and Amaker, and the thousands of student-athletes who assert that sports have been a major influence in their lives....no, I don't think the learning environment on the football and basketball teams deserves the same concern or attention, at least in regards to this issue.</p>
<p>As for men in nursing, that is something U-M has traditionally considered and they do believe a mixed-gender discipline is a better one.</p>
<p>Speaking most generally, I think we will always find--and sometimes even encourage--mini-climates on campus where students who are like each other will gather. There are clubs and organizations and residence halls where there isn't full diversity. The point is not to insist that every single corner of campus be representative, multi-ethnic, and fully integrated by sex, race, religion, income, major, and citizenship. The point is rather to create an overall campus environment sufficiently diverse. In that situation, such smaller "enclaves" (for lack of a better term) don't detract from the real opportunities to learn from others not like oneself.</p>
<p>Does a black student lose something (in terms of having a diverse experience on campus) when they go to an HBCU? Yes. However most informed observers believe that what they gain more than makes up for it. It would be hard to argue that whites would realize those same benefits from going to a near-exclusively white campus. </p>
<p>I feel like I'm writing this post in reverse order of generality heh. Overall, the simple math of being a minority means that minorities are much more frequently in an environment where people have different racial and ethnic backgrounds from their own than do folks in the majority. Frankly, the kind of diversity I'm talking about probably benefits whites more than blacks, hispanics, and native americans--simply because for some whites it may pose one of the first and/or most comprehensive, meaningful opportunities to experience it. Diversity is somewhat inescapable when you're regularly (and often overwhelmingly) outnumbered. </p>
<p>FWIW, you're quoting "alarmingly low" back to me, so let me explain why I used it. The number of black males at Berkeley is so low, I think there's a good chance a student could go through UC and graduate having never seen a black male student in any classroom. Which is incredible to me, the flagship school in such a huge state! That's alarming (to me). Obviously it's not just lack of affirmative action that's the problem there, but still. Good lord.</p>
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A school is 60% white, 30% Asian, 5% black, and 5% Hispanic and it's a diversity catastrophe, nobody can get a decent education, and Mary Sue Coleman will be standing on the steps of the admissions building like George Wallace, trying to stop the National Guard from escorting in some Asian students.
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<p>As I've said elsewhere, I think such claims are pretty ridiculous--I don't think thoughtful people generally share this kind of perspective. FWIW, I am not sure these are the points we should be arguing. I would feel like I was wasting my time defending statements that are patently ridiculous, whether they were actually made my Prop 2 opponents or exaggerated in paraphrase. Similarly, I am sure you don't want to do the same for ridiculous statements made by or attributed to Prop 2 supporters.</p>