(Lack of) Diversity in Higher Education in Oregon

Oregon's seven colleges and universities made incremental gains in increasing
their minority student ranks over the past decade, failing to keep pace with
minority increases in the state's general and high school populations.
Minority faculty teaching in the universities increased by 1 percentage
point over the decade to 9 percent in 2007-08, with the number of African
American professors actually declining from 64 to 59.
Members of the State Board of Higher Education meeting at
Portland State University on Friday afternoon expressed concern about the
minimal progress and vowed to make increasing diversity among faculty and
students a higher priority.

Reading that news item reminded me of my opinion piece that was published in the Register Guard on March 10, 2008. Here it is:

An Honored Ambassador For All of India
When a freshman student in the honors program said, "Dr. Khe, you are the first nonwhite teacher I have ever had," two others immediately jumped in with "mine, too."

Of course, even a kindergartner will easily figure out from my appearance and accent that I am from another country. But until that chance conversation, it had never occurred to me that I would be quite a few college students' first nonwhite instructor ever.

When I left India, I came to the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, where the graduate student population was so multinational that race and ethnicity were nonfactors in my daily life.

After completing graduate school, we lived in Bakersfield, about a hundred miles north of Los Angeles. While not the ethnic salad bowl that Los Angeles is, Bakersfield, too, had a significant nonwhite population. Every once in a while I ran into people who thought I was Latino until my accent gave it away.

It is more than five years since we moved to Oregon. Living here has been a wonderful experience, and all my interactions have been pleasant. If all of a sudden I am the personification of "diversity" to my students, it is because for the first time I am at a university where only about 13 percent of the students are nonwhite.

This percentage reflects the demographic characteristics of Oregon; according to the 2000 census, whites accounted for almost 87 percent of the population. It is therefore quite possible that both white and ethnic students had nothing but white teachers from kindergarten through 12th grade.

My lack of experience with such an educational environment - despite all the discussions of diversity and multiculturalism - meant that I was not quite prepared for the idea that I am the embodiment of "diversity" to many students. Later, when I engaged my upper division students about this topic during the warm-up before class, their responses were similar to those of the freshmen.

James, a nontraditional student who had initially kept quiet, suddenly came alive with a question: "Hey, Dr. Khe, does this mean you feel a huge responsibility now?"

The answer was a no-brainer. "Yes, because I now feel that if I mess up, there is a good chance that students might think all Indians are awful." With such a responsibility, it is no wonder that I have nagging shoulder pain!

I am concerned about making a good impression, particularly because of the saying in the Tamil tradition in which I grew up, which translates to, "You need to sample only one grain to ensure that the rice is cooked." That one small piece tells us whether the entire pot of rice is ready for consumption.

Of course, the rice analogy does not translate well to human experience. Statistically speaking, we ought to have a random sample that can then substitute for the entire population before we can draw a conclusion. However, I would guess that it is not uncommon for people to draw conclusions based on strange events. We are humans - and we err!

Thus, to a large extent, I now have an opportunity that is presented to very few people. To my students, I am now the metaphorical single grain of rice representing a billion-plus Indians. In the months that have passed since that conversation with freshmen in the honors program, I feel a constant reminder that every day in the classroom could easily be a make-or-break situation for the planet's Indians.

While this is a huge, and perhaps unfair, burden, it is an incredible honor and privilege to fill such an ambassadorial role. I am hoping to make the best of this newly discovered honorary position that I never knew I had.

Wish me luck.