Increased Attention To Diversity And Inclusion On Miami’s Campus

By Madeleine LaPlante-Dube

Miami University journalism student

When one of his Miami graduate student peers called his newborn son Leonardo an "anchor baby," Ancilleno Davis was caught off guard. At home, his wife Alma was taking care of his kid, unable to work because of stipulations involving Davis’ graduate student visa. The couple currently exists at a multicultural crossroads: Davis is Bahamian, Alma is Mexican, and their new baby was born on U.S. soil, making him American.

The idea of an "anchor baby" is listed as a derogatory term by the American Heritage Dictionary. It is also a term that President Trump has used in reference to immigrants attempting to get citizenship.

With increased awareness of immigration and diversity in this postelection year, more people on Miami’s 74 percent white campus are now becoming more aware of – and more exposed to – racism. Part of this came late last year, when white nationalist groups began targeting the campus with fliers advertising an alt-right website.

"You can see that [the website is] explicitly aimed at young men," says Cathy Wagner, Director of Miami’s Creative Writing Program and co-President of Miami’s Advocacy Chapter of the AAUP. "It’s jokey, snarky, pseudo intellectual. It is geared exactly toward men like those at Miami."

The feeling did not go unnoticed, especially by international students.

"Over the past year everyone was saying, ‘Oh, it’s just a small portion of the population that shares that sentiment of that really vile stuff in [Trump’s] campaign messaging,’" says Davis, doctoral student and founder of Graduate Students of All Nations (GSAN). "But you can feel it here on campus."

In July of 2016, Miami released a new University Statement of Non-Discrimination, effective immediately. The statement declared that "the University is committed to equal opportunity, affirmative action, and eliminating discrimination and harassment."

But according to Rhonda Jackson, administrative assistant at the Women’s Center and past advisor for Spectrum, there has been a large hole in the university’s support for diversity over the years. The director of the university’s Office of Diversity Affairs (ODA) resigned at the end of the 2016 academic year. The ODA’s current director, Kelly Kimple, came into the position in August, and has since been doing the job of a five-person team with only one other person. The empty Director of LGBTQ Services, Associate Director for the Office of Diversity Affairs and Coordinator of Diverse Student Development positions are scheduled to be filled in June.

"That sets up a lot of uncertainty for the students," says Jackson. "They need somebody who is here and stays and who they can connect with."

This is especially true at a time when harassment issues on campus – involving racism and interpersonal violence specifically – come at a "steady" pace, according to Jackson, who regularly has students coming in to ask her questions and share their experiences.

"We’ve never really figured out what [diversity means to this campus]," she says. "I mean, we have definitions, we bring international students here, but we’ve never figured out how to be inclusive, how to be welcoming."

According to Wagner, part of the reason for this may be attributed to the types of students that tend to choose Miami.

"They’re not particularly radical types, they don’t like to wear wild clothing, they get their hair done like other people do," she says. "And there’s nothing wrong with those things. There’s something quite touching and beautiful [in] what I think is a Midwestern vibe of not wanting to stick out, not wanting to act as if you’re better than other people. But I also think that desire to be in line with other people can get dangerous at times."

Wagner says that it can prevent other types of students from reaching their full potential during their time at the university.

"By Title IX, by law, every student needs to have equal access," says Wagner. "If they’re feeling unwelcome, they’re not getting the same education."

According to Jackson, however, Miami is taking steps towards creating a more accepting environment on campus. In the next year, the university is preparing itself for a large-scale survey focused on attitudes towards diversity on campus. It is also taking steps to write a new diversity statement to match its new Non-Discrimination one.

Miami’s new president, Gregory Crawford, is also being treated with somewhat skeptical optimism.

"His level of engagement is much higher," says Jackson. "[President David Hodge] kind of had the Rodney King can’t-we-all-get-along attitude. He was always cordial and interested but [diversity] was just something that he was not really willing to put a whole lot of time into."

If anything is certain, it’s that a shift won’t come overnight.

"It’s a long game," says Wagner. "There are a lot of minds to be changed."

Photo: Miami University graduate student Ancilleno Davis was shocked by the labeling of his infant son an "anchor" baby by another graduate student at Miami. --Courtesy photo.