Marquette University has a plan for improving diversity on campus. I think it is too bad that none of us know the plan. The small population of black students receives lip service from the administration regarding progress in diversity.

The university tells us that black enrollment is increasing, but it does not tell us that enrollment increased across the board, nullifying any increase in black enrollment.

The programs that the administration gives to appease the black population would have value if we had any input on the implementation of said programs.

I am vice president of the Black Student Council and we have tried our best to make Marquette a positive atmosphere for black students, but the administration, by not providing funding, precludes us from creating that atmosphere. We are not the only student organization to feel the sting of lack of funding, but we feel that if the university is sincere in achieving diversity, it needs to allocate funds accordingly.

Contrary to popular belief, black students do not feel their needs are a priority of the university. When I sit in a political science class, a bastion for diverse faculty, students and thought (if you cannot tell, I am being very facetious), I am left wondering if I am nothing more than a token black speck in Marquette's sea of whiteness.

Questions began to arise from the inner psyche. Why is there only one black professor with tenure in the College of Arts & Sciences? Why is there no African-American history class offered? Why are there no guest speakers or entertainers who identify with African-American culture? Can Marquette change its course which is headed nowhere?

Yes, Marquette can change the course if it engages in meaningful dialogue. Discourse with the ethnic population of Marquette with the sharing of ideas and the serious consideration of those ideas would go a long way in helping Marquette achieve true diversity.

If Marquette feels dialogue is not necessary then it should scrap the whole diversity plan altogether. No longer mention it and no longer pretend it is an issue with which it is concerned.

All I ask then is to properly fund student organizations or refund my student activity fee. In other words, SHOW ME THE MONEY like Jerry Maguire.

Stokes is a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences.