The Daily Pennsylvanian :: Editorial

Awave of University press releases in the last month proudly proclaimed Penn's standing in a slew of new rankings.

Yet none of the these rankings had anything to do with the U.S. News & World Report - they all scored Penn on its diversity-friendly environment.

According to the rankings from Hispanic Magazine, Black Enterprise and The Advocate, Penn is the No. 5 school for Latinos, No. 9 school for blacks and the best school for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students.

The rankings are a sign that Penn has come a long way in making many different groups of people feel comfortable on campus that a century ago was a bastion of homogeneity. It's also a sign that cultural centers like the LGBT Center and La Casa Latina are having an impact. As narrow in purpose as some of them may be, they're places where students who share similar characteristics can meet and connect - and they are places valued by a vast number of students.

But just as administrators shrugged off Penn's recent drop in the U.S. News rankings, administrators and students must look at the rankings with a similarly skeptical attitude.

A number can only say so much.

The rankings may demonstrate, to some degree, how open Penn is to new communities. But someone's quality of life can't be encompassed by a number.

Better integration of different groups of students on campus, more classes on subjects specific to minorities and continued minority recruitment would all help Penn improve its standing with minority groups.

The rankings are a good starting point, but it doesn't mean Penn can stop improving life for minorities on campus.

Comments (5)

Why doesn't Penn iclude WASPS in their minority rankings?

Because those whiney WASPy sluts have the Acappella groups, the Penn Club in NYC, and they don't need any other crap.

Great editorial, those cultural resource centers are but only a part of the equation. Increased academic research on not only ethnic studies, but liberal arts, business, health and sociological research in regards to Africa, Latin America and South Asia are needed. Penn is only scratching the surface, the Center for Africana Studies is a great example, but if Latino and Latin American Studies, Asian American Studies and Queer and Gender Studies are not developed with tenured faculty, this will all mean bupkis. Penn needs to think multidimensionally because we are a lot more diverse then black and white.

[QUOTE id="41e6f265-7d38-4ed3-b913-bb4fb1a8e4e2"]Because those whiney WASPy sluts have the Acappella groups, the Penn Club in NYC, and they don't need any other crap.[/QUOTE] Hate to tell you this J-O-R-G-E, but I have been a member of the Penn Club in NYC for about 5 yrs now; and I am the furtherest thing from being "waspy" you could probably get. All you left wing kooks play the same ol tired mantra.

[QUOTE id="75d669e0-a54f-4494-9f7a-89f30746da26"]Great editorial, those cultural resource centers are but only a part of the equation. Increased academic research on not only ethnic studies, but liberal arts, business, health and sociological research in regards to Africa, Latin America and South Asia are needed. Penn is only scratching the surface, the Center for Africana Studies is a great example, but if Latino and Latin American Studies, Asian American Studies and Queer and Gender Studies are not developed with tenured faculty, this will all mean bupkis. Penn needs to think multidimensionally because we are a lot more diverse then black and white.[/QUOTE] What the University really ought to do is kill all this bogus garbage of bending over backwards to "appear" culturally sensitive and racially diverse. That is all pure bullshit. Let those who are at the top of their game gain admission. All the rest step aside Ð lets have a blind eye to race make up. If that mean most Latinos, Mexicans, Columbians (all the same), blacks, and other so called �?minorities�? don�?t make it - so be it. Try harder or go somewhere else. Do not force the administration to lower the bar for one group or the other. It is absolutely pathetic. Stand up for what is right, Penn!

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