U-M Professor Patricia Gurin found that students who experienced the most racial and ethnic diversity in classroom settings and in informal interactions with peers showed the greatest engagement in active thinking processes, growth in intellectual engagement and motivation, and growth in intellectual and academic skills. Students educated in a diverse environment are also better able to understand and consider multiple perspectives, deal with the conflicts that different perspectives sometimes create and appreciate the common values and integrative forces that harness differences in pursuit of the common good. Faculty members across our campus can relate experiences where the learning taking place in their classrooms has been powerfully affected either by the presence of students from different races, or the lack thereof. For example, students' racial identities may affect their perception of important works of literature, their views on the political process and the role of government, and their analysis of marketing strategy. A diverse classroom also allows students to dispel stereotypes they may harbor about race and viewpoint.
Race still matters in American society.
Your race continues to have a large effect on where you live, where you go to school, who your friends are, and what doors are open or closed to you. Americans of different races lead surprisingly separate lives. This is especially true in Michigan, which has three of the 10 most segregated cities in the nation. Ninety-two percent of the University's white students and 52 percent of its African American students grow up in racially separate communities. The result of this separation is that Michigan's incoming students have rarely had the opportunity to get to know and learn from peers of different races before coming to our campus.