I have been at UT for almost four years now, and I am still amazed at what this university considers to be diverse. A couple of people may believe there is diversity on this campus, but I disagree. Diversity means difference or variety and one does not see much of either while on this campus. It's not just a lack of racial or ethnic background differences, but also a lack of religious differences,  differences in sexual orientation and physical differences. 

I don't want to seem as if I am not happy with my university. That's not the case. I applaud UT for attempting to be helpful to disabled students. Ramps have been put up all over campus for wheelchairs and many first floor rooms are open to disabled residents in the various residence halls. Not to mention, if someone needs a ride to or from class, they can call the T Link in advance and get the transportation needed. However, how many disabled students do you see on this campus? I happen to see maybe one every other week. I know that due to the hills on this campus, many disabled people are not willing to come. If more disabled potential students were approached when considering admission, and received information on the accomodations of the university,  I know the outcome would be much better. However, this is only a portion of the problem. 

Students still do not feel as if they can be openly gay on this campus. Tennessee is a conservative state, but one should still be able to freely express his or her sexuality. Many students feel the same as I do, and have created an organization, Lamda, for gays and lesbians. I think that is a brilliant idea, but UT is not a place where people are willing to accept each other's differences. I, for one, don't have a problem with homosexuals and have a couple of gay friends, so I know how they feel excluded from university policies. Although visitation rules do not affect them as much, most feel that university-sponsored events are geared toward heterosexuals. I wish I could say these are the only diversity problems UT faces, but there are more. 

The majority of our campus is populated with white Christians. This campus is a satire of America as a whole. College is a place where people go mingle and generate real life experiences. UT prides itself on having a 10 to 11 percent minority population. Am I the only person who deems it a problem when we are proud of a tenth of our population being of different race? This means 90 percent of UT students and faculty are white Caucasians, while the remaining 10 percent is comprised of those who are Black, Hispanic, Native American, Asian, etc. The only reason the minority population is up to 10 percent is because of the case Rita Sanders Geier brought against Tennessee public institutes. Now that it is over, Tennessee institutes are not required to admit more minorities, so this 10 percent may decrease once more. It's clear that if UT stressed the importance of having a diverse educational environment, those minority students interested in application would bring with them their cultures and religions. This could defiantly increase UT's diversity. 

I love my university, but there comes a time when tough love is needed. UT needs to acquire a more diverse population not because it has to, but because it wants to.