From looking at Marquette's promotional literature aimed toward prospective students, one would think Marquette is a paragon of diversity with people of all different colors and creeds (well, mainly Catholics) intermingling in our own little slice of academic heaven north of Interstate 94. The reality is quite different, though.

The vast majority of students come from a white middle-class background and most likely, somewhere near Chicago. In the fall of 2004, white, non-Hispanic enrollment, including international students, accounted for 86.9 percent of undergraduates, according to Alexander Kaleta, associate registrar. In an attempt to rectify this situation, the university has brought in Keenan Grenell to be the newly established associate provost for diversity. While little can be done to immediately affect our poor diversity, this step is a major one and will help show Marquette's commitment to diversity.

Grenell is facing an uphill battle. Caucasians make up the vast majority of the campus population. This number is more distressing when you look at it in context of where Marquette is actually located. Milwaukee is a city where 48 percent of the population is non-white and is also one of the most segregated cities in America. Marquette is essentially a white island sandwiched in between minority neighborhoods, which makes us part of the problem when it comes to Milwaukee's segregation. If Marquette were to improve its diversity as a kind of stop gap between neighborhoods it might help facilitate less segregation in Milwaukee in general.

Ambitious plans aside, improving diversity should be important because of our Catholic mission and values. Today's church is a world church with Catholics everywhere from the Philippines to Brazil to Nigeria and back to Milwaukee. Increasing diversity and improving relations between people of different backgrounds is the best way to uphold our Catholic guiding principles.

We should also keep in mind, though, that diversity comes in many forms and not simply in terms of racial diversity. Hopefully Grenell will use a broader definition of diversity that not only incorporates race but socio-economic background and regional considerations. For the desired effect of diversity to take place, that is to expose students to people of all different backgrounds, there must also be diversity of class and region. If someone were to randomly stop students and ask where they were from, chances are they would respond with "Chicago. Actually, not really Chicago, just outside, though." Marquette should try to get its name outside the Midwest to help facilitate students coming from different regions of the country

Increasing diversity is not going to be an easy task, and Grenell is not in an enviable position, but it is a job that must be done to help take Marquette into a more progressive 21st century.

This editorial appeared in The Marquette Tribune on April 26 2005.