It is sometimes hard to decide whether to be proud of UW or disappointed in it.
For the first time in at least five years, constituents have two international student options on the ASUW president / vice-president ballot.
It thrills me to see that the tickets Ahmed Balogun Jr. and Ricardo Lind-Gonzalez, as well as Samet Mhamed and Robert West are running for office. The Greek-flooded senate chamber could definitely use a bit of a diversity influx.
If one of these tickets wins, which seems rather likely after Tuesday’s primary election numbers, the boost to diversity will not only be felt in senate, but also bolster UW’s image as a university that values varied viewpoints.
This boost is coming during a bitter time. Specifically, UW has been commissioning a revision of the University Studies Program set of required classes. For the last few years, these classes were composed of health (H), oral communication (O), diversity (D), global awareness (G) and others.
Over the last two years, a task force comprised of representatives from all six colleges, students and other “qualified” personnel was endowed with the responsibility to overhaul these classes. What we are now facing for the USP 2015 is essentially a fast food version of requirements from the past.
While I have a personal gripe over the elimination of the O requirement, it is the streamlining of the D and G requirements that truly baffle me.
Instead of two distinct classes, the federally mandated education of diversity and global issues is now thrown into a hodgepodge definition of human culture. At first glance that shift might seem to be just semantics.
The reason it’s not lies in how these requirements will now be met. An HC requirement will give colleges the chance to “infuse” their own classes with topics that deal with “human behavior and cultures” instead of diversity issues. The problem here is the approach.
Whereas a “human behavior” could be taught from a purely neutral psychology or sociology standpoint, diversity and global awareness more frequently discuss the underlying societal problems and disparate environments different cultures and minorities live in.
In other words, the new HC requirement leaves entirely too much room for fluff and will most likely cost students critical empathy skills.
And let’s be real, when it comes to diversity, Wyoming ranks among the most homogenously white states in the U.S. Even potentially throwing out an opportunity to teach students who grew up in a culturally narrow environment is a disservice to them and the people they will have to interact with one day.
But the problem does not just end with students. Already, there have been faculty who chose to resign from their positions over the developments. By infusing classes with topics that lie outside of the expertise of the instructor who teaches the class, we will make our faculty look like idiots, while simultaneously losing elite instructors from these fields. I encourage all students to express their concerns and constructive criticism via letters to the editor, emails to the USP committee and your ASUW representatives.
