Two weeks ago, SUNY Plattsburgh’s student newspaper, Cardinal Points, gained widespread attention for the front cover of its weekly print edition. The week’s main story, titled ‘Minority admission rates examined,’ was accompanied by an illustration depicting an African American student dressed for graduation, holding his diploma and walking through a rundown neighborhood. The illustration received immediate pushback from the campus community and the editorial staff issued an apology, while taking the article down from the organization’s website.
The Oswegonian would like to say that we do not in anyway condone the practices of Cardinal Points. We firmly believe their editorial staff made a grave mistake with its decision to run this offensive illustration. That being said, the school has addressed the situation. This week, we would like to turn the focus back to the topic Cardinal Points’ associate news editor Tim Lyman was covering.
In 2015, diversity continues to be a hot topic across America. Diversity goes beyond race. On a college campus, it encompasses a number of minority groups, including non-traditional students, students who are members of the LGBTQ community, students of different ethnicities and races, students with disabilities and students of different socioeconomic status.
The Oswegonian would like to discuss several ways our newspaper has reported this semester on growing diversity in the SUNY System, as Cardinal Points’ Tim Lyman was attempting to do as well.
Currently, Oswego State is finishing up its celebration of Non-Traditional Students Week. This event put on by the Non-Traditional Student Committee, an organization which provides fiscal and educational services to adult undergraduates, included activities ranging from a snack and chat to networking opportunities with non-traditional student alumni.
The week of Sept. 25, Oswego State put on its annual ALANA (African-Latino-Asian-Native American) Student Leadership Conference, which celebrates diversity and promotes equality. The week featured events such as a fashion show showcasing the variety of minority cultures represented at the conference, a banquet, an alumni panel and a peace walk.
The week of Sept. 11, the Oswego State Pride Alliance joined Oswego County in its second annual “Pride Festival.” The Oswego County Pride Committee organized the event, which is meant to celebrate the LGBTQ community and help groups within the community still struggling to gain acceptance.
Finally, on Sept. 10, Gov. Andrew Cuomo made the state of New York the first in the country to implement a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policy. The system is in place for all 64 schools in the SUNY system and the plan includes implementing a chief diversity officer and increasing cultural awareness among students, faculty and staff, according to a Sept. 18 story in The Oswegonian.
An article in The Oswegonian on Sept. 11, titled “Enrollment shows increase in diversity,” showed Oswego State’s diversity of freshmen enrollment up 63 percent from 2009 to 2014, according to Woolfolk. The incoming freshman class in 2015 is just 67 percent caucasian, which is down nearly 13 percent from 2013, according to information reported by ProPublica.
The illustration on the cover of Cardinal Points on Oct. 23 was offensive and awful. It should never have been printed. But the issue raised in the article is an important one affecting this campus. Change will not be instantaneous for non-white, traditional students, but in the fall of 2015 change is coming nonetheless.
