In a state that is over 90 percent Caucasian, the University of Wyoming could be considered an oasis in a diversity desert. UW has many programs in place to promote diversity, such as the UW Cultural Program series, which recently hosted Croatian guitarist Ana Vidovic. UW also has the Women’s Center, whose mission is to provide resources for women students and collaborate on women’s leadership programs. UW can boast Nontraditional Student Center, and the Rainbow Resource Center, which provide a voice and community for students. The 2015 University Studies Program (USP) includes the Human Culture (H) credit, which includes learning outcomes such as explaining human ideas and experiences, examining the role of diversity in human societies and how it impacts global change.
These are all good programs, and I, as well as many other students, am happy that the university is working to promote awareness for diversity. But promoting awareness is where it seems to end. The University does a lot to promote the awareness of diversity, but I think as far as actually representing diversity, we have a bit more work to do. The University of Wyoming is below the national average for diversity on campus, with 80 percent of students being white. Hispanics are at 5 percent, Black non-Hispanic is at 1.1 percent and American Indians and Alaska natives combined are at .7 percent, which is interesting to me since American Indians alone make up 2 percent of the Wyoming population.
The board of trustees governs the University of Wyoming, and is there to be representative of the interests of the university and the public. Recently the diversity of the board has been questioned, when last year it was discovered that the board was in violation of the Wyoming Constitution for having more than seven people belonging to the same political party. With nine registered Republicans, the board was over the limit of seven. That same year, a petition was launched by Marianne Kamp, an associate professor in the UW History department. The petition called for more political, but also gender and ethnic diversity in the board of trustees. The board used to contain more diversity, with more women and minority representatives. To represent the minorities on campus and in the community, the board should seek to continue the diversity it once had.
