Diversity, diversity, diversity.

That’s all university officials have seemed to preach during the past two years.

They say how important it is to maintain diversity on campus. And they are right.

Yet when there was an open forum for an affirmative action officer candidate, the second most important diversity official on campus, only two people bothered to show.

One was a faculty member who left early to go teach her psychology class, and the other was a member of the search committee.

There were no administrators and no students.

It shows that all the diversity talk that university officials have beaten into the heads of the CMU community has fallen on deaf ears. Maybe it shows the university community has moved on.

Poor Lee Gill (Monday’s AAO candidate) had to talk over the Central/Western football pep rally that was going on outside.

At the very least, it shows university officials showed poor planning in scheduling the forum. Why not schedule it two hours earlier, or two hours later? Maybe then more people could have attended.

The forum didn’t have a chance when paired against the pep rally.

Perhaps all the preaching, especially after the approval of Proposal 2, got old. Maybe people have had enough.

Even University President Michael Rao, in his meeting with the Central Michigan Life editorial board in September, said people could begin to tire of all the diversity talk. It looks like he was correct.

And what does this message sent to Gill?

Does it send the message that this university is committed to his position? Not so much.

It wouldn’t be too surprising if Gill lost interest in the position. And if Gill is the best candidate for the job, that would be a shame.

Central Michigan, because of its location and student body racial makeup, has to work hard to show its commitment to diversity.

The only commitment Gill saw Monday was the love for the CMU football team.

The AAO position is an important one, especially after Proposal 2’s approval. Critics say since the approval of that legislation, the AAO position no longer is needed.

That is not the case. In fact, the AAO position has never been more essential. This person can facilitate what the university can or cannot do with the new law.

He or she can initiate programs so the university doesn’t fall into the rut of a non-diverse campus.

University officials know that, it isn’t anything new. Yet they showed they didn’t care too much by their lack of attendance at the forum.

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