{"id":8615,"date":"2011-05-01T05:05:21","date_gmt":"2011-05-01T05:05:21","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-10-15T11:50:57","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T11:50:57","slug":"oklahoma-state-university-sees-diversity-increase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asiancemagazine.com\/?p=8615","title":{"rendered":"Oklahoma State University sees diversity increase"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oklahoma State University<\/strong> is becoming more diverse, according to research conducted by OSU’s Institutional Research and Information Management office.<\/p>\n

Statistics show a 47 percent increase<\/strong> in new freshmen from fall 2009 to fall 2010 for four major ethnic groups: African-American, Asian-American<\/strong>, Latino\/Hispanic and Native American.<\/p>\n

Christie Hawkins, director of Institutional Research and Information Management, said the ethnic breakdown is not all-inclusive, but is based on the categories mandated by the federal government.<\/p>\n

She said students of foreign citizenship are counted as nonresident aliens. The statistics also combine the OSU campuses in Stillwater and Tulsa.<\/p>\n

In 2005, OSU created the Division of Institutional Diversity, which has a staff of about 30 people. <\/p>\n

Jason Kirksey, OSU’s associate vice president for the division, said only his position existed before 2005. He has served as vice president since April 2009.<\/p>\n

Kirksey said his office focuses on attracting and retaining a diverse faculty, staff and student population. He said in the past several years, OSU has been successful in bringing more diverse students to campus.<\/p>\n

He said the 2010 freshman class has a record number of students and about a quarter of that class is minorities.<\/p>\n

A diverse population benefits everyone at the university, not just those from certain backgrounds, Kirksey said.<\/p>\n

He said diversity comes not just in the form of people but of ideas and experiences that benefit OSU as an institution.<\/p>\n

“The life experiences that I bring to the classroom are different than those that my colleagues bring to the classroom,” Kirksey said.<\/p>\n

Catherine Vijayakumar, Asian-American Affairs coordinator, said her office works closely with undergraduate admissions to help recruit minority students<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Vijayakumar is also the adviser to the Asian-American Student Association and the Vietnamese-American Student Association.
\n<\/strong>
\nShe said OSU is going the right direction as far as being welcoming and friendly to students of diverse backgrounds.<\/p>\n

“We live in a global community,” Vijayakumar said. “The more students are exposed to diversity on this campus, the better for them.”<\/p>\n

Robin Williams, Native-American affairs coordinator, said OSU has stepped up its commitment to diversity in the last five years.<\/p>\n

Williams said the biggest challenge of diversity is making sure every voice is heard, even the most silent.<\/p>\n

She said diversity is beneficial because of the multiple perspectives offered, not only in ethnicity, but also in disability, age and sexual orientation.<\/p>\n

Having this diversity leads to a more global mindset rather than just a linear vision, and helps students adapt in diverse environments when they leave college, she said.<\/p>\n

Williams said it is also important to have diversity in faculty members or at least an understanding of different perspectives.<\/p>\n

“Our faculty are the ones that are in the classrooms, and if they have stereotypes or certain biases and they expose them to the classroom, that might encourage isolation or a less welcoming campus,” Williams said.<\/p>\n

Having diverse students and faculty is related because minority students are attracted to schools with diverse students and faculty, Kirksey said.<\/p>\n

He also said the number of minority tenured faculty at OSU has risen by 36 members in the past five years.<\/p>\n

Cammilia Holmes, a broadcast production junior, said she sees the diversity on campus and that it is part of what attracted her to OSU.<\/p>\n

Holmes, an African-American student, said OSU has something on campus for everyone, no matter what his or her interests or majors are.<\/p>\n

“I love the cultural dinners the campus does so we can experience the culture and cuisine of another country,” Holmes said. “To me that shows diversity.<\/p>\n

However, some students think diversity efforts at OSU could go further.<\/p>\n

David Purdie, a public relations senior, said there could be even more diversity on campus.<\/p>\n

“The campus is diverse to a point, but it still needs a push to help it grow better,” he said.<\/p>\n

Purdie is the president of the Vietnamese-American Student Association and a member of the student committee that promotes diversity on campus.<\/p>\n

Purdie and committee members have held meetings with OSU President Burns Hargis as part of their effort to increase diversity enrichment programs, he said.<\/p>\n

Vijayakumar said it can be challenging to recruit Asian-American students because they make up a small percentage of students statewide.<\/p>\n

Linh Sherman, an engineering sophomore, is Asian-American. She said people should be more involved with different groups.<\/p>\n

“When I look around on campus, I see different races, different groups, sororities, fraternities and people with different majors segregated on campus,” Sherman said.<\/p>\n

Sherman is a member of Alpha Phi Omega, a co-ed service fraternity, and said she thinks it would promote diversity if students got more involved in organizations focused on a cause.<\/p>\n

“This would make different people with different personalities and cultures join for a different purpose, other than race and majors,” Sherman said.<\/p>\n

Her other ideas for making the campus more diverse include a group competition on campus in which members of every group can participate.<\/p>\n

Kirksey said the Institutional Diversity office also works to create environmental awareness, because the environment of campus has to be open, welcome and respectful to different backgrounds.<\/p>\n

He said the goal is to ultimately “produce campus communities that are socially, culturally and globally competent.”<\/p>\n

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