The SUNY system recognizes diversity as a major stepping stone to academic excellence.
The fall of 2016 marks the most diverse incoming student population Oswego State has ever seen since joining the State University of New York system in 1948.
“I am from Portville, New York, and just about everyone in my school and town is white,” freshman Taylor Edwards said. “When I came to Oswego I was not expecting to see so many people of different ethnicities and cultures, I was surprised.”
Oswego State’s class profile from 2011 to 2015 reveals that the Caucasian percentage of undergraduate students has decreased from 82.9 percent to 75.2 percent.
“Bay Shore is one of the most welcoming and diverse towns on Long Island,” freshman Erika Dollmann, said. “When I decided on Oswego, I honestly thought it was going to be a majority white population since it’s so far upstate for me, but as I walk around campus I am noticing people from different cultural backgrounds or countries. It feels like Bay Shore in a way.”
From 2011 to 2015 the percentage of black students rose from 4.7 percent to 7.2 percent, the Hispanic percentage rose from 6.4 percent to 10.3 percent; the Asian/Pacific Islander percentage from 1.9 percent to 2.9 percent. However, the American Indian percentage decreased from 0.3 percent to 0.1 percent in 2015, according to Oswego State class profiles.
“I heard that this year was the most diverse and that’s great,” senior Issack Cintron said. “I remember when I first came in, [Oswego State admission staff] were talking about how my first year was the most diverse and I believe it has gone up every year since I’ve been here back in 2013. So that’s great; that’s progress.”
According to the admissions office, 22 percent of students at Oswego State this year represent minority populations, while 33 percent of the class of 2020 represent minority groups.
“This is a great thing,” said Luke Nadzadi, Senior Assistant Director of Admissions. “When we can increase diversity it improves culture and interaction between students in resident halls, classrooms and on athletic fields.”
“I Am Oz” is a campaign created in 2014 to help train faculty, staff, and students on diversity and inclusion, thinking of ways to incorporate new activities aimed at diversity at orientation and finding speakers to visit campus during heritage months.
“Shine the Light on Oz” is a continuation of “I Am Oz.” Students, faculty and staff have the chance to discuss their thoughts on race, gender, socioeconomic circumstances, sexual orientation, ability and religion through face-to-face communication and on social media.
“At SUNY Oswego, we have been collaborating across lines of students, faculty and staff, drawing input from a broader array of perspectives represented in this vibrant college community,” President Deborah Stanley said of SUNY Oswego in an article from Oswego County Today. “We have been building new traditions for several years, working together to unite and carry forward important values.”
Oswego State offers students the opportunity to travel abroad, which gives students the ability to immerse themselves in new cultures and a new way of thinking. In 2011, only 13 percent of students who took part in study abroad programs identified as culturally diverse. However, as of 2015, that number nearly doubled to 25 percent of students who studied abroad identifying as culturally diverse.
“I think it is a good thing that this the most diverse year ever at Oswego, but I still feel that there is more to be done,” senior Kyle Beck said. “We are getting there through student admissions, but they have no control over that. The students can choose where they want to go to school, but I think the faculty needs to be more diverse.”
With the start of the fall semester, Oswego State welcomed 81 new faculty and professional staff to its campus, with 28 percent identifying as culturally diverse. That is double the amount of last year’s diverse faculty members.
“I can say in my experience I have never had an african american or hispanic professor,” Beck said.
