|
The Slippery Rock University Social
Equity Plan, developed by broad-based campus committees, was
designed to serve as a procedural blueprint for the university in
relationship to diversity, equity, and pluralism.
This plan is an effort to build a more vital, pluralistic campus
community by formalizing a vision for the future that responds to
the university's legal and moral commitment to race, color, creed,
nationality, gender, lifestyle, and physical condition.
The State System of Higher Education adopted as a goal for the
fourteen state universities the establishment of community, and it
is this that undergirds the philosophy and the vision of the
System's Excellence and Equity Plan.
Slippery Rock University accepts and embraces the core principles
posted by the System plan, principles that include common goals and
values, mutual caring and responsibility, and a commitment to
inclusion.
The university also recognizes that the following elements are
essential to academic institutions operating in a democratic
society:
the centrality of
learning,
the freedom of thought and
expression,
the priority of justice, and
the valuing of diversity.
|
The concepts and recommendations presented in the Slippery Rock
University Social Equity Plan offer both the challenge and
opportunity for all in the university community to establish a
truly pluralistic campus.
PLURALISM VERSUS
DIVERSITY
The distinction between pluralism and diversity is articulated in a
1986 Brown University report. That distinction is worth noting and
adds clarity to the intent of our Social Equity Plan.
"The ideal of pluralism is one that can only be realized when a
spirit of civility and mutual respect abounds, when all groups feel
equally well placed and secure within the community because all
participate in that spirit. By contrast to the ideals of diversity,
which gives primary regard to the mere presence of multiple ethnic
and racial groups within the community, pluralism asks of the
members of all groups to explore, understand, and try to appreciate
one another's cultural experiences and heritage. It asks for a leap
of imagination as well as a growth of knowledge.
A truly pluralistic campus community also has the expectation that
faculty work diligently to develop a more inclusive curriculum. One
that expands on a somewhat narrow academic foundation. It asks for
a most difficult outcome - cultural
self-transcendence." |
The goal of the Slippery Rock University Social Equity Plan is to
weave the concept of pluralism into the academic fabric of the
university. This challenge we face together as we move into the
twenty-first century.
It is unrealistic to assume that higher education can on its own
achieve pluralistic communities that do not reflect the problems of
the larger society or that higher education can, independent of
other institutions, solve all the challenges of diversity. But the
issues of a culturally pluralistic society must be high on the
university's agenda. Within academia there is considerable debate
regarding equity and diversity, debate that is highly charged and
strident to the point of being divisive. Emotions frequently are
further aggravated by persons of dramatically different
perspectives using common terms for which no common definition has
been established or accepted.
Therefore, it is important to establish common ground about the
basic terminology, beginning with the word equity. As used in this
plan, equity is a goal which must be deliberately sought, rather
than a reality which spontaneously occurs.
Equity: A descriptive term denoting the intended absence of
any artificial barriers of limitations such as race, ethnicity,
sex, religion, disability, affectional orientation, age,
socio-economic status, or organizational affiliation. The term
applies to all aspects of the academic enterprise including:
student access, retention, and graduation; instructional and
non-instructional personnel hiring, development, and promotion; the
quality of on-campus curricular and extracurricular life; and
access to economic opportunities.
Diversity: Denotes the presence of a wide range and variety
of people in terms of age, race, ethnicity, socio-economic
background or status, religion, physical condition, and affectional
orientation.
Pluralism: A state or condition of society in which members
of diverse ethnic, racial, religious, or social groups maintain a
shared participation in, and development of, their traditional
culture or special interest within the framework of a common
community.
Multiculturalism: A dramatically multidimensional construct
involving both philosophical and curricular issues, which includes"
..the study of topics as disparate as the life of various ethnic
groups, racial diversity, gender differences, international issues,
non-Western cultures, and cross-cultural methodologies..."
|