In response, President George Dennison established the Diversity Advisory Council, which is made up of students, faculty and staff, to address various diversity issues and programs on campus. Dean of Students Charles Couture said the Diversity Advisory Council intended the ceremony to highlight diversity among UM students. Criteria for a student includes serving as a role model, helping others gain greater understanding of diversity, multiculturalism and academic achievement. Diversity is a difficult concept for some people to understand, Couture said. There are those who say everything should be recognized as diversity, and Couture agrees, but certain criteria were set to a select group of students to keep the focus somewhat reasonable.
Diversity is in the eye of the beholder.
To celebrate the cultural diversity of UM and its students, Couture said that people who work to bring different groups together must be recognized. Diversity is not only a racially-based concept, he said. At UM, minority ethnic groups comprise six percent of the 11,945 students enrolled as of spring semester. There are 168 Hispanic students and 111 Asian Pacific Islander students. The African-American student population is 54.