UW Requires Students to Undertake Diversity Course for Graduation

The University of Washington's (UW) incoming classes will now have to complete a course in some area of economic, sociocultural or political diversity before they can graduate. This graduation requirement has been approved by President Michael Young and the faculty senate.

The new policy is a renewed attempt by a group of minority students to make graduate students learn about other cultures and people to understand and better engage in today's diverse and interconnected global society.

Helen Fillmore, a graduating senior majoring in environmental science and resource management and a member of First Nations @ UW and of the UW Students for Diversity Coalition, is one of the students who proposed the course.

"Students come from different places with different backgrounds and ... arrive at the university where we'd become part of this huge melting pot," Fillmore said. "Here we are in a place where we have a lot of ability to grow, not just while we're here but after we graduate and enter the workforce. We're so much more connected than ever before ... yet there's still so much bickering."

The term 'diversity' covers a broad range of topics including sexual orientation, disability, class, race, age, gender, religion and politics. The university already offers around 400 to 500 diversity related programs in its curriculum such as Peasants in Politics, Class and Culture in East Asia, Gender and Spirituality and World Music.

Now, the deans in each school and college within the UW must prepare a list of three-credits of coursework to meet the diversity requirement for the students.

Previously, the students had tried thrice in the 1990s to get the policy introduced. That time, some faculty members stated that the policy was not broad enough as it omitted areas such as politics and economics and concentrated too much on power and privilege.

The policy did face some opposition wherein one student said that UW is not a liberal-arts school and blamed the recent requirement as another hoop students would have to pass through.

"In this fast-moving age of global interaction, it is vital that students learn about diverse cultures and complex societies. This requirement brings our curriculum into the 21st century," James Gregory, chairman of the Faculty Senate and a history professor said.