Posted by Matthew Choi, Class of 2014
Dear Editor,
It's spring time and as tours are wandering around campus I'm reminded of Skidmore's strange approach to diversity. Your average Skidmore tour is almost always overwhelmingly white, while every now and then a tour comes along that is almost completely non-white. These non-white tours are lovingly dubbed "Diversity Tours." What is the message here? Why is there a special tour for the "Diversity?" Skidmore already suffers from de facto segregation, why are we instilling it in people before they even officially enroll?
The message you send when you have all the Black, Asian, and Latino students on their own tours is that they are somehow different and separate from the larger community. The intentions of the Diversity Tours are certainly benevolent, and I'm not arguing for the Diversity or OSDP programs to end, but integrate the damn tours. Black, Asian, and Latino students already tend to be separated from the larger community, don't set the groundwork for that during the admissions process.
Matthew Choi
Class of 2014