Directions
This activity will help you examine ways in which you can develop your awareness of and commitment to diversity on campus and elsewhere.
Read the following questions and make some rough notes, answering each question in 2 or 3 sentences.
- How do you define diversity?
- How does your definition compare with the one in this module?
- What is one place where you’ve personally observed very little diversity?
- What is one place where you’ve personally observed a great deal of diversity?
Now let’s apply these definitions and observations to some particular places. You’ll need to do some brief online research.
Step 1: Visit your college’s website and that of one other college.
Step 2: Find the colleges’ mission statements and, if published separately, their statements on diversity and inclusion.
Step 3: Comparing the two colleges’ definitions and policies, write 250 words describing how your college’s perspective differs from or agrees with your own, and another 250 words on the same question regarding the other college.
Step 4: To conclude your paper, describe how you might incorporate an appreciation of diversity into a campus activity. This could be attending a single meeting or lecture, or, in a more involved sense, could mean signing up for a course in gender studies or Chicano literature. What do you think you might gain from such an experience? It might be helpful to recall your answer to the fourth bullet point above: did you find that the more diverse environment taught you something unexpected or was interesting for some reason? Perhaps there is a connection between diversity of perspectives and your own learning.
Rubric
| Criteria | Meets Requirements | Needs Improvements | Does Not Meet Requirements | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diversity reflection. | Submission includes written notes responding to all four reflection questions in the bulleted list with at least two sentences responding to each question. | Submission is incomplete. The written notes responding to all four reflection questions in the bulleted list does not contain at least two sentences responding to each question. | Submission notes contain less than two reflection questions or each question response is less than two sentences each. | _/5 |
| Reflection on your own college. | Submission includes a written 250 word reflection clearly comparing how their perspective on diversity is the same or different from their college’s perspective on diversity as demonstrated by the college’s statement on diversity and inclusion. | Submission includes less than a written 250 word reflection clearly comparing how their perspective on diversity is the same or different from their college’s perspective on diversity as demonstrated by the college’s statement on diversity and inclusion. | Submission does not include their own perspective on diversity with their college’s perspective on diversity, and/or does not use the college’s statement on diversity and inclusion in their reflection. | _/5 |
| Reflection on another college. | Submission includes a written 250 word reflection clearly comparing how their perspective on diversity is the same or different from another college’s perspective on diversity as demonstrated by the college’s statement on diversity and inclusion. | Submission includes less than a written 250 word reflection clearly comparing how their perspective on diversity is the same or different from another college’s perspective on diversity as demonstrated by the college’s statement on diversity and inclusion. | Submission does not include a reflection or does not clearly compare their own perspective on diversity with the other college’s perspective on diversity, and/or does not use the college’s statement on diversity and inclusion in their reflection. | _/5 |
| Incorporating an appreciation of diversity into a campus activity. | Submission includes a description of how they imagine incorporating an appreciation of diversity into a campus activity and explains what they think they would gain from such an experience. | Submission has an incomplete description of how they imagine incorporating an appreciation of diversity into a campus activity and explains what they think they would gain from such an experience. | Submission does not include a description of how they imagine incorporating an appreciation of diversity into a campus activity and/or does not clearly explain what they think they would gain from such an experience. | _/5 |
