Cultural diversity is an urgent challenge to higher education institutions requiring a communitywide coordinated effort among community sectors. Pluralism is not an end in itself, but a means to the larger purpose of gaining intellectual growth and human insight. Diversity without community is anarchy; community without diversity is fantasy. (MSE)

Uses 9 years of applications of award finalists for the Hesburgh Award for innovation in undergraduate teaching to examine leading-edge efforts to improve teaching and learning in 2- and 4-year colleges and universities. Describes efforts in three major categories: improving teaching, redesigning courses, and changing the learning environment of…

Colleges' and universities' commitment to community service is largely lip service. Conditions that would encourage more than just the very committed do not exist on most campuses. Communities are not voids to be organized and filled by the more knowledgeable; they are well-developed, complex, and sophisticated organisms that demand to be…

Criticism of "political correctness" on college campuses is no longer an internal debate about curriculum. Journalists and politicians have entered the debate, and the entire enterprise of the university, including healthy skepticism, has come under attack. The challenge is to make the university a place where different communities are…

The debate over "political correctness" in higher education policy concerning cultural diversity masks the real issue of educating people to overcome cultural fear and prejudice. Johns Hopkins University's (Maryland) Human Relations and Campus Diversity Committee is an example of an emerging campus forum for students to discuss issues of…

A conversation among senior student affairs professionals concerning college cultural pluralism and "political correctness" illustrates three stages of paradigm shift in higher education, including (1) a single dominant culture, (2) multiple cultures existing alongside each other; and (3) multiple cultures retaining their identities but…

Constituting only 3% of U.S. institutions of higher education, historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) enroll about 16% of black students in college, and award about 27% of all bachelor's degrees to African-Americans; of African-Americans earning doctorates, 35% have baccalaureate origins in HBCUs. These institutions foster student…

A recently released National Institute of Education publication about the state of U.S. undergraduate education that gives 27 suggestions for their improvement is summarized and discussed. A number of criticisms are offered, including lack of documentation. (MSE)

Discussion of the Total Quality Management approach looks at elements that can and can not be applied in the university context. The approach is seen to offer a technique and justification for constantly seeking improvement, fostering willingness to change, distributing decision making, promoting positive attitudinal change, and shifting focus…

By focusing more on the educational values of community life and development of the whole student, as exemplified in the tradition of residential colleges, educators can help make the modern U.S. university more student centered, building characters and sharpening minds. (MSE)

The vast changes that crumbled the ivory tower of 1940 were unforseen, unplanned, and largely unintended. Educators did not control developments but were carried along on social and demographic currents: the demands of war, returning veterans, economic growth, the baby boom, Vietnam, campus revolt, economic decline, and changing public support.…

The role of higher education in preparing citizens for the 21st century, working for global good in an increasingly challenging social context, is examined. It is argued that while higher education is not essential for individual commitment to the common good, at its best it can provide a mentoring environment that supports individual moral…

We learn about differences by existing in communities of difference, among diverse races, classes, genders, and sexual orientations. Enabling silenced groups to speak out and ensuring all have equal protection enhances both individuals and the community. Higher education's obligation is to capitalize on the strength of U.S. diversity. (MSE)

Some colleges have been able to create and maintain campus climates that promote educationally purposeful student behavior. The 14 "involving colleges" identified in a recent study provide unusually rich extra-classroom learning opportunities for undergraduates. Common cultural features of the institutions include strong institutional…

Learned journals are swollen with academic mediocrity. Suggestions for authors of the many second-rate manuscripts needed to pad the contents of learned journals are presented along with suggestions on marketing mediocrity. (MLW)