A July 3 article in the Daily Texan described a study conducted by Timothy Pippert, a sociology professor at Augsburg College in Minnesota, which found that some colleges had depicted their student bodies as diverse in brochures by cutting and pasting the faces of minority students on the bodies of white students. The study also discovered that the photographs printed in college brochures often depict diversity unrepresentative of the school's student body.
To anyone who has actually seen a college brochure, the fact that minority students might be overrepresented isn't much of a surprise. Seeing an African American or Asian American in every shot of a group of students has almost become a requirement. And why not? If I were putting together photos for a college brochure, it would be natural to choose photos representing a diverse student body rather than those composed entirely of white students. Clearly, my own inclinations demonstrate the degree to which these pamphlets have affected my perceptions, but in a larger scope, they represents the influence of the entire advertising world.
Is it wrong to misrepresent the diversity of a student body in the hopes of attracting diversity? Obviously, the cut-and-paste technique used by some colleges is misguided. It reeks of the intention to falsely represent diversity. Perhaps the next step in bad advertising would be to have a student in blackface, and I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't find that offensive. And while the stereotypical aspects of blackface do not come into play in the cutting and pasting of faces, there is still something disturbing about the process and its manipulative aspects. It could just be the front of colleges creating the illusion of a natural photograph, or it could be the arrogance of the creators thinking that they could get away with it. But the manufactured and misrepresented diversity is offensive on its own.
The staged diversity employed by many college brochures is disturbing as well. Is it much different to cut and paste students than to arrange a shot of students of various races? Whether pictures are chosen for the racial makeup of the students or the shots are staged to represent the student body a certain way, the false representation of diversity is upsetting even if the end goal is noble.
Of course, my own view is largely influenced by my experiences as an Asian American. I have been the target of racist remarks and the recipient of treatment specific to the purely physical manifestations of my heritage. I have been to the college and graduate school fairs and been given the "Students of Color and Cultural Diversity" brochures immediately upon approaching a stand. In Jester Center, I have been targeted and hunted down to be given fliers about Asian American fraternities, parties or organizations. This treatment reminds me that I look different and that I am a minority - even though I identify more as an American than anything else. It reminds me that my mind is the illusion while my skin is still the reality.
A diverse student body benefits all students. But it makes me wonder how viable it is as a goal, and what the end goal really is. Are we aiming for equal numbers of students of all races, or maybe for an accurate portrayal of demographics of the United States?
The representation of minorities in higher education is already beyond the percentage of minorities in the U.S. Whatever the goals of colleges are, pretending that higher education is more diverse than it actually is does not help achieve diversity, and it certainly does not help correct the issues that cause these inequities in the first place.
Wu graduated in the spring with degrees in Plan II and music.
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