The present study sought to answer the research question, to what extent is the staff racial demographic profile, as a numeric representation of staff diversity, related to the diversity of graduating cohorts from public community colleges in Illinois? The exploratory quantitative study used five years of Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) survey data for both the staff and graduate populations. The years connected to staff represented the years the graduating cohorts entered college, and the years connected to graduates represent 150% of the normal time to their degree following the year of entry (cohort year). The sample was comprised of five years of data from each of the 48 community colleges in Illinois, which generated 240 observations in the data set. The study used Pearson's Product Moment (r) to test for relationships between the ratios of each demographic group (as defined by IPEDS) in the staff and graduate populations. Several statistically significant findings were discovered, which can be grouped into general themes: a) The ratio of staff in a particular racial category was positively correlated with the ratio of graduates in the same racial category, b) The ratio of staff in any racially marginalized category was positively correlated with the ratio of graduates in any racially marginalized category, c) the ratio of White staff was negatively correlated with all the ratio of graduates in all racially minoritized categories, and d) the ratio of racially minoritized staff was negatively correlated with the ratio of White graduates. Additional study is needed to determine the cause of these relationships, as well as to determine the best ways to support racially minoritized staff and students to improve equity in the higher education workforce and student outcomes. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]