Higher education prof. speaks on diversity

A sparse crowd of University administrators and students attended Columbia University Prof. Lee Knefelkamp's speech, titled "Diversity and Academic Excellence," yesterday at Rackham Amphitheater.

A professor of higher education at Columbia's Teachers College, Knefelkamp has been recognized for her work in multicultural education.

"Without diversity of all kinds in the classroom, one cannot have adequately contextual studies," Knefelkamp said. "This is necessary in today's society."

Knefelkamp stressed four main themes in her speech, all of which she said are necessary for academic excellence. She said the college campus was where these motifs - education for freedom, democracy, democratic intelligence and social justice - should be addressed.

"One cannot adequately assess the world around them ... unless one assesses this through many voices," Knefelkamp said. "In this sense, college campuses can be an authentic public communal meeting place that is designed to create in each of us as individuals, in all of us as a whole, an articulate public."

Shari Saunders, coordinator of Multicultural Teaching and Learning Services at the University's Center for Research on Learning and Teaching, said the speech was timely in the wake of the recent lawsuits that target the use of race in the admissions processes of the University's College of Literature, Science and the Arts and Law School.

"What she is trying to get people to understand is that without diversity, you're not going to have intellectual complexity and academic excellence," Saunders said. "Those three go hand-in-hand."

Knefelkamp addressed the importance of a diverse campus.

"We cannot have an excellent democracy if we do not have excellent universities, and we can't have excellent universities if they do not mirror the diversity in society," Knefelkamp said.

Knefelkamp also emphasized the need for continuing education.

"A college education is not about graduating with a B.A., B.S., M.A. (or) Ph.D.," Knefelkamp said. "It is about graduating into a person who will move from bystander status in American society, to activist status in American society."

Knefelkamp commended the University for "fighting against the backlash" of the lawsuits and encouraged the audience to continue the fight.

"Our access to the University of Michigan gives back to the country what it sorely lacks - diverse voice, diverse perspective and diverse education," Knefelkamp said.

LSA senior Jeff Walker said Knefelkamp's speech was positive.

"She was really personable and I liked that," Walker said.

Knefelkamp's speech was reassuring for students who want to be active in society after graduation, said LSA senior Sarah Altschul.

The speech "was helpful because I'm about to graduate and I've been studying these issues for so long now. I'm really exited to get out of here and be active in society," Altschul said.

The event was co-sponsored by CRLT, the Center for the Study of Higher and Post-Secondary Education and the Women's Studies Program.

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