For the years we are at Guilford, we are constantly reminded of the seven core values. They are in the student handbooks we receive at orientation, are splashed across the college’s Web site and literally hang over our heads as we walk across the quad.

However, hanging an embroidered flag from a lamp post often has little to do with the reality of life on a college campus.

From Guilford’s former nickname, “The Plantation,” to the Bryan incident in 2007, conflicts have arisen between reality and the touted values, especially community, diversity and equality. In connection with the Strategic Long Range Plan (SLRP), the Guilford community is working hard to alleviate such conflicts through the creation of a diversity plan.

Work began on the plan in 2004 in hopes of “transform(ing) Guilford College into an anti-racist multicultural institution.” To meet such ends, the plan outlines specific goals and action steps to improve our community.

The official document, Connecting Communities and Embracing Diversity:

A Seven-Year Plan for Guilford College (2008-2015), has been painstakingly revised by campus offices and organizations including the Anti-Racism Team, the Board of Trustees, members of the SLRP Committee and most recently, the faculty.

However, students remain largely unaware of this significant document.

Despite several allusions within the document to the core values and “creating an academic institution where a variety of persons and perspectives are welcome,” the student body is visibly absent from the diversity plan discussion.

This document and the subsequent policies that it will create will affect students greatly.

From the number of international students to the hiring of new faculty members to even the course catalog, Guilford will be changing; and it is vitally important that students make their almost 3,000 voices heard.

Soon, a new draft of the diversity plan will be posted to the Guilford Beacon. Read it. As students, we are responsible for actively seeking answers and making suggestions.

Community Senate is our link to the SLRP Committee and their work on the plan. Speak to your Senate representatives; ask them questions, tell them your concerns and offer your ideas.

We can repeatedly claim to be a community, but the title is meaningless until we all actively peruse the common goal of diversity at Guilford.