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Room for improvement at TCU,
some say By Yvette Herrera With an enrollment of 7,600 graduate and undergraduate students that represent 48 states and more than 70 countries, TCU makes every effort to ensure diversity in admitting students, said Linda Moore, chairwoman of the social work department. One way of creating a diverse population is through different ideas and perspectives that students and faculty have, rather than through their ethnicity and gender, Moore said. She also said the goal for students spending four to five years at a university while earning a degree is to be exposed to different cultures. “Having people come from different backgrounds and culture teaches everyone on campus,” Moore said. We look for the most qualified people for a position by being racially blind, she said. Cornell Thomas, special assistant to the chancellor for diversity and community, said TCU has yet to become a diverse population. There is room to diversify, but TCU is moving in the right direction, he said. “We want a diverse way of looking at life so that as students go on into their careers they will know how to work with people from other cultures and backgrounds,” Thomas said. TCU’s affirmative action policy says that when hiring faculty and staff and admitting students TCU does not discriminate based on race or gender. Thomas said affirmative action does exist at TCU. “Affirmative action was originally initiated to create equal opportunities for available positions in work and schools,” Thomas said. Although TCU does not offer a lot of ethnic and
gender diversity, there are many different ideas and perspectives,
Moore said. Both Thomas and Moore said quotas do not exist at TCU and are illegal. “One way to kill an affirmative action program is to call it a quota,” Moore said. “Quotas are not fair in hiring or admitting students.” The word ‘diverse’ appears in the mission, vision and values statement of TCU under each category. According to the statement, “Our vision is to be a prominent private university recognized for our global perspective, our diverse and supportive learning community.” Although Ray Brown, dean of admissions, did not know of any official affirmative action policy, he strongly believes in it. In the process of admissions, Brown said a committee acts affirmatively while looking at people’s backgrounds rather than their test scores. “Diversity has nothing to do with a person’s race,” Brown said. “Different life experiences and ways of doing things are what makes a diverse university.” The Hopwood decision made in 1996 involving the University of Texas at Austin disallowed the use of race in admissions. Brown said he personally disapproved of this decision, but from a professional point of view, he said he was delighted. Brown said that since TCU is a private university, admissions act freely when deciding upon admitting students but without violating anyone’s civil rights. Affirmative action is not about giving breaks to people, he said. “If we broke affirmative action down into each element that it covers, no one would deny the concept of affirmative action,” Brown said. Yvette Herrera |