A group of students’ petition at the University of Mississippi is requesting that two new requirements be added to the liberal arts curriculum.
The so-called Students Against Social Injustice wants UM students to (have to) take “6-9 hours of multicultural courses,” as well as fulfill “12 hours of diversity-related extracurricular/volunteer hours,” The DM Online reports.
The petition’s goal is 100 signatures, and in less than 12 hours yesterday the number of signatories doubled from 25 to 50.
Which sounds pretty good, except that … the petition is two months old.
SASJ claims the school diversity plan written by Chancellor Jeffrey Vitter is the basis for their appeal: “Diversity is a hallmark of education and enriches the environment and experiences of all our campus constituents,” the plan reads.
So, naturally, it has to be crammed down students’ throats.
SASI’s argument claims its suggested course requirements would reach the Diversity Plan’s goal to enhance “the overall curriculum by infusion of content that enhances multicultural awareness and understanding.”
SASI’s petition has picked up alumni support as well, from Rebel graduates in Pontotoc and Memphis, Tennessee.
SASI member Makala McNeil signed the petition Tuesday and said she sees the petition as a way to unlock the university’s potential to achieve the Diversity Plan.
McNeil said integrating a multicultural studies requirement would play an instrumental part in institutionalizing inclusion at the university.
“We’d be doing students a disservice if after four years they leave the institution without exposure to the wide array of multicultural courses the institution offers,” McNeil said.
English major Skylar Sandroni wrote a comment on the petition along with her signature.
“I’m signing because I believe in an education that represents all people,” Sandroni wrote.
If the petition achieves the magic 100 signature figure, it will be sent to Interim Provost Noel Wilkin.
Students Against Social Injustice must have missed Nicholas Elliot’s Georgetown Review piece in which he asks “What does a diversity requirement accomplish if [a college’s] mission is already to promote a well-rounded education and globally-aware citizen?”
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