Community Colleges’ Diversity Enhances Learning
by Dr. Irving Pressley McPhail, chancellor, CCBC

As I closely followed the affirmative action debates regarding the University of Michigan’s admissions policies, I knew that the Supreme Court’s ruling would have a profound effect on higher education and its commitment to embracing diversity. As an African-American who attended three Ivy League universities in the late ‘60s and ‘70s, when diversity was just beginning to be a priority, I celebrate the court’s ruling knowing that today’s classrooms will continue to have a true opportunity to reflect our global society.

Even though I had a personal interest in the Supreme Court’s ruling, professionally, I knew it wouldn’t disrupt the way I conduct business at my institution of higher learning. Why you may ask? Because I am the leader of a community college where our open-access policy gives everyone equal footing.

Community colleges are unique in that their open-access policy makes them a giant melting pot. Our campuses are filled with every ethnic and racial group imaginable. The open access policy allows us to focus on student outcomes rather than SAT scores or entrance qualifications.

Education long has been the great equalizer in our democratic society. It represents hope, opportunity and the American dream. Access to quality education opens doors to advancement and is often the only means of upward mobility. Students with different backgrounds, perspectives and experiences play such a critical role in the education process. The value that diversity brings to the classroom not only benefits the individual students, but also serves society by teaching individuals to live among others with mutual respect and appreciation for cultural differences.

Countless studies have shown that the benefits of diversity extend beyond the walls of academia. Research conducted in the early 1990s revealed that diversity helps students become conscious learners and critical thinkers, thus preparing them for the multicultural society that America is today.

At the University of Michigan, research by psychologist Patricia Gurin and her team documented how students who interacted with others from different racial backgrounds, both in the classroom and informally, showed the greatest engagement in active thinking, growth in intellectual engagement and motivation, and growth in intellectual and academic skills. There was a positive correlation between the diversity found in college and the extent to which these graduates led racially and ethnically integrated lives.

It is our responsibility as educators to successfully prepare students to function in a society where they must live and associate with peers who are in many ways different from themselves.

The open access policy of community colleges allows us to do that. It gives students the opportunity to interact on a variety of levels, both culturally and intellectually, which takes them beyond their personal experiences and allows them to gain a greater understanding and appreciation for differences.

I believe our classrooms are better served by the diversity that open access allows. At The Community College of Baltimore County, we witness transformations that are possible only when students from various backgrounds receive the support they need to change the course of their lives. There is great evidence that diversity produces a broader educational experience, both in traditional learning and in preparing for jobs, professions and effective citizenship in our multiracial, multicultural society. Today’s employers are looking for employers who are open-minded, well informed and astutely aware of the needs of a global economy. If colleges don’t prepare students to operate in this type of global environment, we do them a great disservice. [mcphail]

Editor’s note: This article by Dr. McPhail was published on the Opinion/Editorial page of the July 15 edition of The Baltimore Sun.