Later that day, a fight between about 40 white students and 20 black students broke out after a misunderstanding about a dorm resident's visitor. One black student and one white student were briefly hospitalized. The brawl served as a slap in the face to the college's administration, said Terry Lindsay, Olivet's assistant dean of community life and multicultural education. Prior to 1992, I'm not sure we did that. By talking about issues such as race, gender, faith and responsibility, students learn about themselves as well as their classmates, Porter said.
Students seem split on the course's effectiveness.
Freshman Elly Hendrick, an Olivet native, said the class offers her little because it's too broad. I'm not really sure what they're trying to teach us. I knew my opinion on this stuff before I read these issues. But Hendrick's classmate, Melissa Crosby, said the class has taught her about other perspectives. Olivet's diversity classes help some students, but Crosby doesn't think they should be required.