Dear Editor,

Every time I turn around, someone here at Luther is talking about “diversity.” I’m all for diversity — for recognizing it, for marking it and for celebrating it. As a student who has been involved in school activities since my freshman year, I can certainly say that Luther College does a good job recognizing the diverse nature of its students and encouraging recognition and celebration of cultural diversity. However, through my observations of the student body, I have grown progressively skeptical of the students’ definition of the word. Namely, my problem is the student body’s interpretation of ideological diversity.

Whenever a College Republican sign goes up anywhere on this campus, it is vandalized. But when Barack Obama signs go up all over campus without the required stamp from the Student Activities Council, nothing is wrong. When the College Republicans passed out small pieces of paper protesting the Hillary Clinton rally here last year, it was deemed inappropriate and inconsiderate. But when Mitt Romney was booed and Jonah Goldberg jeered at their rally and lecture, the inconsiderate nature of these actions went practically unnoticed as rude and conversation-stopping. In fact, I would argue that these actions were celebrated.

The only conclusion I am able to draw from this is that the only “diversity” this campus appreciates is the diversity of leftist viewpoints. Political conservatives must not count as “diversity” simply because our ideas are part of the old, mainstream way of looking at things. The point I’m trying to make is that if we’re only going to support and appreciate one way of thinking, are we really that diverse at all?

I am in no way saying that conservatives have it right, that liberals are wrong or that discussions about diversity are pointless. But I am saying that there seems to be a certain disparity between the claim of the diversity here and the reality of diversity on this campus. If we’re going to be diverse, that means we need to be open to all ideas and all people. That includes conservatives.

Katherine Mayne (‘08)