Opinion – Page 4 – The Transcript

Tackling sexual assault in Guatemala

By Evelynn Wyatt, Letter to the Editor

I recently traveled to Guatemala on a Travel Learning Grant from Ohio Wesleyan. I was struck immediately by the way that plants and people spilled out from every opening in the city streets.

I was also confronted almost immediately by groups of leering, calling men. In America, nearly every self-identifying woman and approximately half of self-identifying man, regardless of age, race, class or sexuality has been subjected to sexual harassment in the streets.

This harassment comes in the form of catcalling most frequently, but can come in more invasive forms such as flashing and groping. In Guatemala, this culture of street harassment is much more pervasive and dangerous. The woman I was traveling with and I were both told to avoid being out after dark at all costs to avoid Ladrones, robbers or thieves.

This seemed to be a catch-all term for very, very bad people, but as I began reading the local tourist-run papers, I learned just how prevalent street harassment and other forms of sexual assault are within the country. In Guatemala, as in the United States, leering, catcalling and stalking lie on the same continuum as sexual abuse and rape. It is these microaggressions toward women that make rape okay in both of these cultures.

Author Claire Vaye Watkins explains it this way: ”Humans are wide, open vessels, capable of almost anything … but you cannot beat the mother of your children, or rape your childhood friend while she’s unconscious, or walk up to a sorority outside Santa Barbara and start shooting without first convincing yourself and allowing our culture to convince you that those women are less than human.”

Leering, catcalling and groping exist on the same continuum as sexual violence and rape. When we are silent in cases of street or workplace harassment or when those around us make jokes about sexual assault, we are supporting rape culture and the normalization of rape in our country.

In Guatemala, this systemic silencing of and violence toward women is overwhelming.

Guatemala has the third highest rate of femicide (the systematic killing of girls and women with impunity) in the entire world.

The rate of impunity for femicide in 2014 remained at around 98-99 percent. The rate of convictions for rape and sexual abuse are equally abysmal and threats and intimidation to prevent reporting these crimes are common.

Even when reported, “Domestic violence, rape and sexual assault and other crimes of violence against women are ineffectively investigated, prosecuted and adjudicated. Police have minimal training or capacity to investigate sexual crimes or assist survivors of such crimes,” according to the Advocates for Human Rights group.

This group also found that “biases regarding the status of women in Guatemala have resulted in wide acceptance of domestic and sexual violence, which women are expected to endure because it is viewed as “normal.

Religion further complicates the normalization of sexual assault and child pregnancy. This is a country in which church authority has succeeded in preventing the passing of pro-contraceptive laws through likening contraceptives to ammunition and arguing that they both kill.

One of the most horrifying consequences of high rape rates is that adolescent females are giving birth to children at increasingly higher rates. In 2013, 4,354 Guatemalan girls between the ages of 10 and 14 gave birth as a result of rape.

The total population of Guatemala is relatively small, making this one of the highest rates of child rape victims in all of Latin America. Like in the United States, most child victims of sexual abuse of all kinds are assaulted by people they know.

Eighty-nine percent of the men who assaulted girls younger than 14 were relatives or otherwise close to the girls; 25 percent were the victims’ fathers. When young girls become pregnant they are much more likely to die as a result of carrying the pregnancy to term or of giving birth.

The American photographer Linda Forsell has been working since 2014 to take pictures of these girls and their children as a means to raise awareness about this issue, but most people remain ignorant about the horrific consequences of the normalization of rape, violence and femicide in Guatemala and other Central and South American nations.

As a nation, we are starting to talk more about inequality and gender-based violence as it exists in the United States, but remain entirely ignorant as to what this violence looks and feels like in other parts of the world.

Letter to the Editor: Debunking myths about prison inmates

By Diana Muzina, Letter to the Editor

When someone says the word ‘prison,’ we immediately have associations and assumptions about what it is like based on media portrayals and pervasive stereotypes. We see prison as being this place where bad people are sent, and that they deserve to be there. This is not always the case.

As a part of our Sociology & Anthropology Senior Seminar this semester, myself and the other 19 departmental majors, have a joint class with 20 inmates of Ohio Reformatory for Women (ORW) in Marysville, Ohio.

Every Wednesday at 4:50 p.m., we depart campus and make the 25-minute drive to the institution with our two professors, Mary Howard and John Durst.

“It forces us out of our OWU safety bubble, literally, and encourages interaction with views we otherwise don’t hear on a liberal campus,” junior Kelsey Morrison said.

This course has been in the works for a long time, and was first conceptualized by Howard in 1987 when she was the director of Women Studies.

“Bill Louthan, who was provost at the time, supported the idea but as it turned out, the prison system was forced by public outcry to close down all rehabilitation programming,” Howard, professor of Sociology/Anthropology, said.

“Through recent tours with SOAN Senior Project classes, we noticed the return of multiple skills training projects and the addition of Inside/Outside college level courses held within the prison,” Howard said. “We did not design our course as any kind of mission for the prisoners. If there was any intent in a joint class of 20 OWU students with 20 ORW students, it was to learn from each other.”

The women in our course are a select group of individuals from the institution who have proved themselves as open to learning in a self-help program developed for those who have passed through many other personal developmental hoops.

Many women in the course have commented to myself and other students that not everyone in the prison is happy and that many do not choose to seek self-improvement programing.

Upon arrival, belongings were stowed away in the vans, cellphones were left in our bags, and with our state IDs in hand, and maybe a pen and paper, we made our way to the metal detectors. IDs were traded for visitors passes after our identities were checked against the volunteer registry. We signed in and had our hands stamped.

Many times we waited up to 20 minutes for everyone to go through security, including other volunteer groups and another class of students from Ohio State, until nally we were sent, five at a time, through a large metal door into a small room.

After one door shut, another opened to let us out onto the prison grounds. Five by five, we regrouped and headed across the yard to class. Right in the middle of the yard along our way was a track which encircled a new softball field. It didn’t look like a prison; it looked like a college campus.

Opinion: Political exhaustion

By Liz Hardaway, Arts & Entertainment Editor

I’m tired of hearing about politics.

Since early 2015, when liberals “felt the Bern” and someone from the Internet figured out Ted Cruz looked like the Zodiac Killer, I subscribed to a few political magazines, receiving updates daily about the proceedings in Washington.

During the election, I eagerly opened these emails, excited to see what would happen next. The emails gave updates on Clinton and Trump’s proposed policies, briefings on the debates and other pertinent political news.

I wanted to be informed. Even after Trump was announced president, I wanted to keep up with what was happening in the White House. I watched as Trump announced his cabinet, and SNL hilariously parodied Steve Bannon with the Grimm Reaper and an ominous theme song.

I listened as the Muslim ban took effect, and the Supreme Court blocked the executive order. Even on Tuesday, there was an update from The Hill about Trump signing an executive order that “aims to overhaul the H1-B visa program used by tech companies to bring high-skilled workers to the U.S.”

So much is happening in the political realm and it’s exhausting.

And yes, this exhaustion probably stems from the fact that I am a Democrat. Yes, I’m one of those special snowflakes who did not get what they want, and sure, this is probably my temper tantrum.

But even on the brink of a possible World War III, the messy foreign relations (who knows what’s going on with Russia) and don’t even get me started on our problems here at home, I’m tired of hearing about it.

All day, I hear people from every background and ideology talking about how they either love or hate what is happening in Washington. Even when posting a Snapchat story about ducks in a pond (literal ducks), I get a message from an avid Republican. Despite not talking to him in more than a year, he tells me that Trump’s strong immigration tactics will stop “letting the scum of the earth walk straight through from South America to the Land of Opportunity.” Though I am disgusted and angry, right now I am just too tired to fight.

I’m making like an ostrich and sticking my head in the sand. Hopefully one day I can become a humble potato farmer in Switzerland, and all I ask is for you to please not nuke my beloved potatoes with your politics.

Letter from the Wesleyan Council Student Affairs president

By Chris Dobeck, President of WCSA

The other day a close friend asked what the Wesleyan Council on Student Affairs (WCSA) was doing to make a presence on campus.

In all honesty, I floundered. Make a name for ourselves? We’re the people everyone comes to for funding. The Campus Programming Board (CPB) is the outreach part of our student government.

This friend not only asked an important question, they answered why WCSA has fallen into such a rut.

OWU students don’t care about stu- dent government, because student governments haven’t shown the care deserving of OWU students. Over the years WCSA strayed from initiatives, gave up on the legacy of itself and its students and confounded itself with unnecessary professionalism.

As president, I never sought to push a legislative agenda. Surely all the senators had pet projects. Policy reform, food, sustainability, and budgetary guidelines have gone through the ringer. Now, our well-spring of creativity has begun to trickle.

Over the last month, the Senate has hit gridlock again and again talking about reforms to the treasurer position. It has brought the momentum of progress to a halt. Today, that changes.

This April my administration will push for a New Student Affairs Policy, bringing the cloistered WCSA out of its shell. We’ll push for initiatives students care about, like a water fountain in Sanborn. We’ll begin to build monuments to OWU students of ages past; civil rights activists like Mary King, abolitionists like Fredrick Merrick, and Vice President of the United States Charles Fairbanks. Through our new policy, WCSA will end this brutal isolation, reaching out to students in constructive ways, like offering of office hours to voice complaints and turning the WCSA of office into a quiet study room in the weeks leading up to finals.

Politicians always promise things. It’s kind of the bread and butter of our career. But honestly, you guys deserve better. These policies should be ful lled because we, as a student government, have the op- portunity to help make this school really something. At this point many WCSA members have been here long enough to know what we can and can’t do. The difference between what we can do and what we have done de nes who really was t for the job. So when 2017 comes to a close, I hope WCSA remembered to do all they can.

Food pantries: Take what you want, leave what you don’t

By Tom Wolber, Contributing Writer

At least 12 colleges and universities across Ohio operate free food pantries, ac- cording to the latest “Hunger on Campus” report by the Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies (OACAA).

The organization, which releases reports on poverty every year, estimates the poverty rate in Ohio to be 14.8 percent (or about 1.6 million people) in 2015.

Food insecurity is also common among many higher-education students, which is why numerous college campuses in the U.S. run their own food pantries. The College and University Food Bank Alliance (CUFBA) has 400 members.

Many pantries have been in existence since the Great Recession of 2008/09, others have opened recently.

OSU started one a year ago, which serves 110 people every month, according to a Columbus Dispatch article that appeared on March 24. Nearby Otterbein University recently started one. Wright State’s pantry began in 2011 and serves anywhere from 10 to 50 students a week.

The Owens Community College in the Toledo area not only serves students but also staff members. Janitors earn low wages and part-time instructors do not receive any benefits, so money is tight for many of them as well.

Other Ohio campuses with food pantries include Akron University, the University of Cincinnati, Cleveland State, Kent State, the University of Toledo, Wright State and Xavier University.

Ohio Wesleyan, too, has a small food pantry.

The “Chaplain’s Free Food Bank,” as it is called, is located on the third oor of the Hamilton-Williams Campus Center. A sign reads, “Take what you want, leave what you can.”

At a recent visit, there were only a handful of nonperishable items sitting on the shelves – several cans with beans and tuna and some packages with edamame and quinoa.

Depending on the season, there may also be fresh produce from someone’s garden. There is no attempt to advertise the pantry and no budget to keep it well-stocked. At times, it is completely empty. If it were better known, perhaps more students, faculty and staff would drop off items they don’t need or want for those who don’t have enough.

Hopefully this little article encourages the campus community to invest a bit more time and effort into the pantry. Especially during the summer months when the campus cafeterias are closed, there are students who would benefit from having access to a food bank that reliably supplements their food intake.

At Wright State, individuals and businesses donate about 1,000 pounds of food (as well as hygiene products) every month. There is no reason why OWU couldn’t create a dedicated room at a central location and open it up at a few convenient times each week.

The Chaplain’s Office is to be commended for having shown compassion and having maintained its food bank for years, but perhaps the time has come to raise its pro le and to elevate it to somewhat higher, institutional level, as other colleges and universities have done.

An attractive and well-stocked food pantry could even serve as a recruitment tool to be shown to prospective students and their parents when they visit the campus. It would send the message that the university stands ready to take care of each and every one of its members when they nd themselves in need.

Low-and-moderate-income people are sometimes blamed for making “bad choices” or for not demonstrating enough “personal responsibility.” Not so.

The prevailing Ohio minimum wage of $8.15 an hour is not a living wage. Students, in particular, have limited opportunity to work and make money.

The average student graduates with a debt of more than $30,000 these days. The funds they do have are spent on necessities such as textbooks or medication.

Cheap clothing can be found at thrift stores, but cheap or free food is harder to come by. Many middle-class families are one medical emergency, one car crash, or one paycheck away from food insecurity, forfeiture, and bankruptcy.

Poverty is all around us, even in the sub- urbs. “The age of poverty” is ascendant, and income inequality is getting steadily worse. The Trump administration is adamant about slashing Pell Grant funding by $3.9 billion in 2018 and by $65 billion over the next 10 years. Students should not be shy and hesitant about taking advantage of opportunities to supplement their meager income with free items such as food or clothing if they can nd them. If anyone should be ashamed, it is the politicians who are ddling in Washington while America is burning.

Is your bracket busted?

By Evan Walsh, Chief Copy Editor

Chances are you know someone, or know someone who knows someone that needs NCAA Tournament therapy.

Fear not, they are simply suffering from “Busted Bracket-itis.”

Do a quick search on web.md and you probably won’t find anything about it. But if you spend ve minutes during these two crazy weeks at a Buffalo Wild Wings or any sports bar you will see just how real this syndrome is. (Disclaimer: Busted Bracket-itis is not actually a real thing … please don’t sue me, web.md.)

The Men’s NCAA basketball tournament begins with 64 teams and over the course of several weeks the field will get whittled down one by one until a champion is crowned.

As fans of men’s college basketball know, making a perfect bracket where the winner of each game in each round is chosen is impossible. The chances of that happening are something like 1 in 6360309209. Not good.

So, as fans (or casual spectators feeling this annual bet-making itch) know, you should make educated guesses. But educated guesses, grounded in logic and informed by statistics, mean nothing. After all, it is “madness.”

Letter to the Editor: SIAC addresses lack of diversity among faculty

By Ryan Bishop, Contributing Writer

The Wesleyan Council on Student Affairs’ (WCSA) Student Inclusion Advocacy Committee (SIAC) was created in the spring of 2016 to ensure that students from under-represented groups on campus have a pres- ence and voice on our student government.

Its mission is focused on addressing is- sues that students from minoritized groups face. SIAC has eight voting senator positions, known as Inclusion Representatives, and is currently chaired by Ryan Bishop.

SIAC’s first big project for the 2017 term was composing a letter to address the lack diversity among faculty on our campus.

This three-page letter was reviewed by Juan Armando Rojas, associate dean for inclusion and diversity, and WCSA’s full senate.

In our letter, we expressed appreciation for the number of efforts which the university has already undertaken to address this issue, including creating Rojas’ position and holding various faculty training sessions related to diversity, inclusion and equity in the classroom.

Ohio Wesleyan prides itself on fostering a welcoming environment for students of all backgrounds and has been working toward strengthening the efforts in this area.

SIAC expressed concerns we have heard from our student body regarding the small number of faculty of color (for instance, out of 129 faculty members, only four are Black, and only three are Hispanic or Latinx; OWU has only ever had one Black female faculty member, Judylyn Ryan).

Not only do these numbers not re ect the diversity in our student body, but they are also unjust and undermine our commitment to liberal arts education.

Diversity among professors is crucial for a number of reasons, including providing students of diverse backgrounds with the opportunity to see themselves in their teachers who are often their role models.

According to a 2014 report by the National Education Association, professors of color are often more capable of connecting with students of color, and also tend to teach with a more socially conscious mindset which is inclusive of students from under-represented groups and incorporates diverse approaches.

Inclusive approaches are bene cial to all students, as they shape graduates to be true global citizens.

Increasing diversity among faculty, as well as strengthening diversity and sensitivity training of faculty and staff, is a goal of equity and justice, and one that can only improve our already exceptional liberal arts institution. In the letter, SIAC also offered suggestions which could help expand existing efforts.

Our letter was immediately addressed on multiple levels of the administration, including by Provost Chuck Stinemetz and President Rock Jones, both of whom ex- pressed desire to meet with SIAC and further the conversation.

Furthermore, departments that are currently hiring have expressed willingness to honor a resolution passed by WCSA in 2016 to invite SIAC members to hiring committees.

WCSA is grateful for the administration’s commitment to fostering a diverse, inclusive and just campus environment and for its willingness to work with students.

Warning: Virtual reality induces nausea

By Liz Hardaway, Arts & Entertainment Editor

So, this spring break I experienced a whole new world.

No, I’m not talking about some lifechanging, spiritual journey to the beaches of Miami. Rather, Google sent me its new “Virtual Reality” headset for free as compensation for sending my phone three months later than than they had promised.

Before this, I’d heard bits and pieces of virtual reality before I had actually experienced it.

I saw hilarious videos of people tiptoeing across their living room floor or screaming because they were watching themselves 500 feet in the air on a tight-rope.

Yet, I was never intrigued enough to put forth the effort to actually become part of this alternative reality. Honestly, had the Google gods not sent me this headset, it’s likely I would never have experienced such a new level of video gaming.

But why not give it a shot, right?

The headset came neatly packaged with a tiny remote control. Just to get it working I needed to connect everything via Bluetooth. Once I strapped in my phone to the headset, I put it on my head and got ready to see a whole new world.

All I could see was my screen. There were some artificial forest graphics resembling a menu with options about where to go.

As I turned my head, the forest grew as a river appeared and birds chirped in the background. I used the remote to choose the “King Kong experience” — a five minute YouTube video promoting the new movie. I thought I would just watch a trailer in super high-definition.

Instead, the headset put me in a helicopter. The windows revealed the lush, green rainforest; the pilot was calm and collected.

In the back of my ear, a blood-curdling roar loomed closer. The pilot started to shake the helicopter, trees falling to large footsteps. The frame tilted drastically downward, and as I looked to my left I stared into the green, bright eyes of a gargantuan, angry gorilla.

The pilot fainted; I didn’t know how to fly! My heartbeat quickened, stomach churning, my face turning green as King Kong started shaking the helicopter up and down. His eyebrows furrowed, then he lunged his arm back, getting ready to pitch the helicopter directly into the volcano.

As my head bobbed up and down, contemplating my chances of survival, I realized I could escape.

Right before I plunged to my death, I threw the headset onto my lap, trying to control my breathing as I realized I was just in my living room, and no gorilla was out to get me. I did feel like throwing up, though.

Overall, the experience was very intense, and if you get the chance, you should definitely try it out.

Just remember to read the warning label, take off the headset if you get dizzy and that, contrary to the real world, you can escape virtual reality with just a push of the button.

Spring Break: Which side are you on?

By Evan Walsh, Chief Copy Editor and Sara Hollabaugh, Online Editor

By Evan Walsh

I can’t imagine there are too many bad ways to spend spring break. And I’ve got to admit Sara’s Spring break plans are wor-
thy of envy. But there will always be those college students among us that simply cannot get/take a break from reality. Even if the university tells you to get lost March 11 and 19.

I have been part of that Delaware Spring Break crowd for four years now, and although it’s not the most desirable option, it may be the most necessary. Spring break at OWU is carte blanche for study time. In the environs of a student-less Ohio Wesleyan I am completely distraction free.

Ahhh.

Does it bug me that I will never experience the joys of Panama City Beach? For many, it is the quintessential college experience. A true rite of passage for any undergrad. Replete with fellow co-eds enjoying the same hedonistic pleasures that our society is so fond of it would make sense that it would.

But it really doesn’t … Is something wrong with me?

I’d like to think there isn’t. I’d like to think I’m just lazy.

Organizing a Spring break trip is exhaustive and requires leadership. No thanks.

If I don’t even have enough time during the Ohio Wesleyan school week to get my work done, how the hell can you expect me to find time to waste to make plans to get wasted?

Even if I did, I can’t afford these excursions. No matter how cheap and seemingly affordable. You see, college is that special time where many young men and women are introduced to the practice of budgeting.

[This is more of a concept than an actual practice for me.] So, come late February I’m about as financially soluble as the country of Greece.

Should I ever come into possession of the requisite funds I would like to take a trip. Greece sounds pretty nice and I’ve even heard we’re financially alike.

Lastly, Spring Break destinations scare me. They seem like the perfect place for everything to go wrong- it’s “Murphy’s Law” in a bathing suit. There’s a reason no one tells their parents about their plans for Spring Break.

So if you’re sticking around for the break, don’t feel bad. Spring break isn’t for everyone.

By Sara Hollabaugh

I remember watching every reality show of the early to mid 2000s and how, when it came time for spring break, the phrase constantly repeated was “it’s spring break b**ches!”

I grew up with television, movies and advertisements campaigning the best and biggest parties of the year happening over spring break with alcohol, women in bikinis and endless fun on the beaches of Florida, Mexico and other exotic places in the Caribbean.

I would be lying if I told you that I didn’t think they looked totally fun and that I wanted to go on a quintessential spring break trip when I was younger.

However, I knew deep down I was never going to be that girl.

To be honest, I wasn’t cheeky enough in high school, and I’m really not now, either. But no matter the type of spring break I partake in, that week in mid-march is hands down one of my favorite weeks every single year.

Why? Because I grew up going to those beaches of exotic places in the Caribbean such as Dominican Republic, Aruba, Puerto Rico and Jamaica.

Let me stop you right there before your brain skips to the thought of how ridiculous that sounds. Trust me, I know.

But I was lucky enough to go on extremely amazing vacations growing up. I zip lined, climbed high ropes courses, and rode horses on the beach, all while experiencing different cultures from the local people of each place.

I not only did really fun activities, but met other kids from all over the world. I made friends from Canada, France and and different parts of the United States that I had not yet been to.

When I stayed at a resort in a foreign place, I felt like I was in my own little world and on an adventure.

While we did spend hours on the beaches, my mom never let me get away with doing nothing all day. I was encouraged to go to the kids club, urged to make new friends, pressed to try new things.

And that’s one of the most rewarding parts about my spring break experiences. I never did the drunken trip with wild concerts. I never danced in a crowd at a spring break concert with profanities shouted every second.

I didn’t do those insanely crazy things, but I turned that sense of recklessness into a sense of adventure. And I think that’s what makes spring break such an enjoyable time.

So no, you won’t find me drunk on a beach surround by thousands of people yelling “spring break b**ches,” but you will probably find me making the most of my 7 day break.

The benefits of diversity in academia

By Dr. Thomas Wolber, Modern Foreign Languages professor

Some people hold the view that diversity is incompatible with and antithetical to excellence. A woman can never be an effective president, they might say. The same people may believe that a black student can never become a top-notch STEM scientist or that a Hispanic-born “dreamer” become a loyal American citizen. They are mistaken. Diversity is not just about being fair, nice, or politically correct.

Let’s imagine, for a minute, that Hollywood makes movies only for, by, and of straight white men. Obviously, such products would not be particularly attractive to most women, Hispanics, Blacks, LGBT folks, or international audiences. To increase sales and profits, the film studios would have to produce movies that are more diverse and multicultural in terms of gender, race, national origin, language, sexual orientation, etc. The same is true of any company. If a board of directors consisted of nothing but a bunch of old white-haired men, chances are that the particular products of that company wouldn’t be bought by many millennials, women, or minorities. A company that wants to avoid entropy and to remain competitive has to make a concerted effort to understand the market and respond to its customers. Boards must be as diverse, inclusive, and heterogeneous as possible and create space for new viewpoints while considering alternatives. Not only do diverse and decentralized companies perform better, their long-term health and well-being depends on having a workforce that reflects the population.

The same principles apply to other institutions and organizations like schools, churches, hospitals, city councils, the police, political parties, etc. Recent studies outline multiple benefits of diversity for institutions of higher learning as well. Jeffrey Milem at the University of Arizona (2003) says that increased faculty diversity results in more student-centered approaches to teaching and learning; diverse curricular offerings; research focused on issues of race and ethnicity; and faculty-of-color involvement in community and volunteer service. Paul Umbach from the University of Iowa (2006) found that faculty of color were more likely to interact with students, to employ active and collaborative learning techniques, to create environments that increase diverse interactions; and to emphasize higher-order thinking in the classroom. Other studies likewise emphasize that diversity enhances more comprehensive approaches, collaborative learning, deeper knowledge, critical thinking, and cognitive development. We also know from K-12 schools that black students perform better academically when their schools have black teachers, and their graduation rate is higher. This is by no means an exhaustive list. There is much that is not yet known because the benefits of diversity has been a historically neglected area of inquiry. But from the research available so far it is clear that racial and ethnic diversity matters for optimal learning outcomes.

Academia is historically rooted in white and male authority and hegemony. Indeed, many colleges and universities were once funded through the practice of slavery. Ohio Wesleyan University, too, remains a predominantly white institution. But history is not destiny. There is much OWU could and should do to remove barriers to diversity. More faculty and administrators of color and/or other diverse backgrounds would make the institution more attractive to minority students and help with recruitment, retention, and student satisfaction. At the same time, it would allow OWU to fulfill its promise to provide a global education for everyone and prepare all students for a world that won’t look like the communities they hail from. OWU, a liberal-arts college, has a fine tradition of broadening students’ horizon. But there is more to be done. Currently, OWU is not preparing students to the extent that is necessary for a diverse world and future. For example, most graduates will have never had a person of color as their teacher, adviser, or mentor in their life. In the real world, it will be different. How will OWU students deal with a black, female, or LGBT superior later in life? Will they accept and support the person in authority, or will they reject and undermine the leader’s legitimacy? Is OWU equipping them with the requisite body of knowledge, skills, and character to navigate the unknown?

As the population of the U.S. becomes more multicultural, diversity and inclusion will play an increasingly integral role in every aspect of society. It is the next frontier.