Compiled by Lamaretta Simmons

ABSOLUTELY NOT! I think that it is absolutely crazy to think that just because a school is diverse it is a better place. We can learn from our cultures and communities about diversity. When it comes to my education, I am extremely insulted that because “a” (or this) school wants to become more “diverse,” they will seek out specific races and cultures to come here, rather than accepting people for their abilities and artistic talents. I feel cheated as a middle-class white woman living on the edge of Chicago and a suburb, and because of this I have received little to no financial aid or grant money from this school during my four years here, despite family hardships and unemployment (not what I was promised four years ago). … Contrary to popular belief, aid is NOT only based on your financial status but also your race. … I am not saying we should not be diverse. We SHOULD be exclusive to the best artists we can find; we pay enough to deserve that, and within a group of artists you definitely will find diversity. HELLO we are artists. THIS SHOULD NOT EVEN BE AN ISSUE!!!
— Anonymous “unracist” BFA Senior

I think diversity is a good thing; don’t get me wrong. Only when quotas are placed on admissions is there a problem. Things such as that lead to an artificial and contrived student body … not a true representation of the most talented art students; the cream of the crop, if you will. I don’t see why SAIC (or any educational institution for that matter) would feel a need to reflect any demographics. We are talking about people’s educations and lives, not market research. I think only the best of the best belong in such a highly ranked art school, regardless of sex, race, age, or any other factor.
— Ryan Scott Scarola, Interior Architecture

I attended two separate private high schools in my hometown in Nebraska. The all-girl, white, middle- to upper-class student body did not feel right to me. I transferred to a large public high school that was extremely diverse in [types of] people, backgrounds, etc. I felt that it was essential to my education, and I knew that all of the people attending these private institutions were missing a valuable experience that nothing else could replace. Coming to SAIC I still feel that diversity is helping my education. I guess to me, diversity is anything from place of origin to how someone was raised. I have never felt that this school lacks diversity, but by all means it would serve everyone better to bring a new perspective into the community.
— Evan Thompson, BIA Sophomore

In an ever-more complex world and society, the artist must grow more complex. To ignore diversity would be disastrous. We would become ignorant, and ignorance is not in something that a “valued” education would support. It is important that we understand the many diversities that influence us all, because they do exist. As a progressive school, attention to the issues of every kind of people is essential. Why not take the initiative and let everyone know that The School of the Art Institute of Chicago did not ignore the beauty of difference?
— Andres Laracuente, Student

I think that diversity is extremely important to the education experience of this school. I personally feel that an overwhelming portion of the time artwork is suggestive of the experience of the artist as a member of a community. In many senses I see artists as critics exposing their own thoughts and thoughts that reflect those surrounding them. To put [an] educational environment of this nature through a strainer, i.e., taking away financial aid and affirmative action, would leave us with nothing but a lot of upper-middle-class Caucasian kids making work about being an upper-middle-class Caucasian kid. What is an education if it is not provided in an environment of a multitude of completely different people from completely different backgrounds, both ethnically and experience wise? Without this great benefit I think the information we process can be extremely lop-sided. … And if that isn’t what we call an inspiring and pressing environment then I think we are in a lot of trouble.
— Amelia, Student, Painting and Drawing

… The greatest joy in my life has been living and working closely with people from other backgrounds with ideas and beliefs that may be different from mine. I love hearing stories about how they were raised, what got them to where they are today and what are the most important things to them, all of which has made me see things from a different point of view. Specifically, I am referring to the five years when I was an art therapist at Cook County Hospital and worked with colleagues and patients who were literally from around the world, my current marriage to a man from Amman, Jordan, and having grown up with a Dad who is gay. I have little doubt that these experiences have made me a far more compassionate and broad-minded person, and tougher too, as sometimes you can end up being part of a conversation that is difficult to hear and hard to know how to respond to. … I think facing such questions, awkward and unsure-making though they may be, are of UTMOST importance for us as artists and human beings who believe that the growth of society depends upon the survival of dialogue among cultures.
— Nina Beaty Hannoun, MAAT ’93 Fashion Design Departmental Assistant

Diversity contributes to education because it makes a student face different points of view from angles that student never imagined existed. It also helps make a contrast between a student’s identity and that student’s classmates’ identities. The contrast will lead towards auto analysis and therefore a stronger character will be developed [for] the individual; more solid concepts will be built on the student’s points of view towards life and art. [An art school should be concerned with diversity] if it is interested in having students with an understanding on how rich in ideas and lifestyles the world is. The only place in the world with ideas and lifestyles just like in the United States of America is the United States of America ... and that’s not a compliment ... just a fact.
— Cesar Eugenio Davila-Irizarry, Undergrad, Sound Dept.

I am all for diversity, as long as it doesn’t reflect in biased recruitment, admittance, or financial aid packaging. If minority and international students are getting more than their fair share based on their skin or cultural differences, I think that is another form of racism. I feel let down with the quality of programming and curriculum development in the undergrad departments, and I feel that this needs to be addressed. The focus should be on talent and creativity when selecting who is accepted and given funding. Personally, diversity doesn’t make the quality of my education any better; in fact, I feel separated and distant from my international and minority peers. They seem to have little interest in establishing relationships and opening channels of communication. Perhaps only international and minority students who wish to specifically act in a “diverse” manner should be accepted for admittance.
— Anonymous, Undergrad

SAIC doesn’t have to directly reflect the diversity of Chicago, but meeting people of different nationalities and heritages can only help the growth of students here. That doesn’t mean that every fucking international student should be accepted though, and those that are should have something to fucking offer the community and should make the mutual effort to learn about and communicate to people of other nationalities, including Americans, here.
— Daniel Kwak, Student, First Year Program

My visit to Open Studios Night was convincing evidence that diversity contributes to the educational quality of the school! I saw work done by students from India, Brazil, China, Japan, everywhere ... and loved it! … I am always intrigued to see what subject matter and approach an artist will choose and how background affect artistic identity. From one end of the show to the other, these sensitivities were present to affect and educate. I believe exposure to numerous cultural art and ideas is an invaluable contribution to education and a very strong reason to choose the SAIC! The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is a world-class school; it seems only fitting that it have a global diversity.
— Marlene Short, Continuing Education, SAIC Alumn

I was actually kind of disappointed with the lack of diversity at SAIC! I do think that diversity plays a huge role in setting a creative and artistic environment not only in an art school, but everywhere else too. … [My education in a foreign country] brought out so many different perspectives, so many interesting opinions, and it helped our school to be global, fair, and diplomatic in all perspectives, although it was an “American” Embassy School. I do think that diversity in a school is very important, possibly more so in an art school. I hope that SAIC will become more diverse, and I hope that SAIC’s policies will start to look more favorable for international students to encourage them to enroll. (For example: equal rate of scholarship distribution among U.S. nationals and internationals) and to your last question: I think that we should not be concerned about the demographics of SAIC [matching] the demographics of Chicago. ... I think that the more diverse a community is, it is obviously better. ...
— Jae-Won Shim, First Year Student, Visual Communication and Fashion

An art school, or any school for that matter, should never be concerned with diversity because it will happen naturally. We should be bringing in individuals as students, teachers, and staff, based on talent, and if that is what we are doing, it is impossible to not have a diverse community. I also don’t see how demographics and diversity correlate, except on a very shallow level. Demographics break down the population into numbers concerned with race, class, and other such labels. Diversity, I believe, is concerned with the variety of ways we see the world, interpret it, and translate those multifarious ideas into a tangible object.
— Angee Lennard, Third Year Student

Diversity is really prejudice in disguise.
— Anonymous

Dictionary.com defines “diversity” as: “1. the fact or quality of being diverse; difference. 2. A point or respect in which things differ.” Are either of these broad, general definitions what we are really talking about, or is the word “diversity” being hijacked by the special-interest buzzword industry, and re-tooled to conceal the banality of the actual subject matter: superficial, outward appearances like race and gender?
Demographics are for advertising executives and politicians. Let’s get on with the infinitely more exciting business of making art, a universal language which, by itself, effortlessly transcends all these boundaries “diversity” is so frantic about.
— Bill Voltz, Admissions Staff

To be diverse is to have variety. Diversity is more than just a matter of black or white, Jewish or Muslim, gay or straight. Diversity already exists at SAIC. There are people with disabilities, people who have allergies, people who eat meat, people who like country music, and people with high cholesterol. The differences in us are endless. What needs to go along with diversity is open-mindedness. What doesn’t exist here is a universal acceptance. SAIC’s concern should be to educate and assist art students. An individual’s concern should be to accept diversity, and not be judgmental about others’ differences and values. It is more acceptable at SAIC to admit that you use heroin than it is to admit that you voted for Bush. That is despicable. I don’t believe that SAIC needs a diversity initiative. What we need is to quit being so damn judgmental, to quit bitching about how the world owes us something, and just be nice to each other. That would make us better people, and SAIC a better place.
— Melissa Liebl, Senior

It was my last year at SAIC: there was a Bush was in the White House; a war in Iraq; the Rodney King beating and the LA riots. “Multicultur-alism” had just entered the national lexicon. This year was one of the most important of my life. Although SAIC has never been on the cutting edge of diversity issues, I had found (in working with the staff of F News) a diverse group of politically-minded artists who helped to shape the way I think and look at the world. Working closely with students of different races and economic backgrounds forced me to analyze and critique many of my own political assumptions. Unfortunately, for many other students at SAIC, diversity did not exist in any real way. Enrollment among African Americans and Latinos was abysmally low, and there was a mere handful of minority faculty members. I am deeply saddened to realize that so little has changed at SAIC. Diversity is vital to educating a predominantly white, suburban, middle-class student body. A diverse student body, faculty, and curriculum will encourage students to consider different cultural paradigms and challenge their ideas and pre-conceived notions. I hope that the students of SAIC will not have to wait another decade to see real change instituted at the school.
— Meridith Walters, SAIC Alum