After the Strategic Long-Range Plan (SLRP) hit a speed bump last year, facing a deep cut in funds, its original amount has been restored and the Diversity Plan’s (D.P.) implementation for next semester looks promising. President Kent Chabotar said he asked the budget committee to restore the original $137,000 for 2009-10 as a means of keeping the plan on track after they had been slashed to $68,000 last year.

Chabotar said that funding was a necessity if Guilford wanted to see improvement and transformation through the D.P.

“The fact that we’re spending so much time and money on diversity amidst very uncertain times is a sign of its priority”, said Chabotar. “When the college made anti-racism a priority before I became president, no money was allocated making it difficult to progress. You cannot travel in an automobile without gas.”

Jeff Favolise, assistant to the president, said that the plan is no “pie in the sky.”

“There are specific steps and tasks we must fulfill and we are meeting our goals,” said Favolise.

The plan states that by 2010, the percentage rates for faculty, staff, and students of different race, gender, nationality, and traditional and nontraditional must increase to meet specific goals.

According to updated percentage numbers sent through e-mail by Kent Grumbles, director of institutional research and assessment, with the exception of traditional students who are international, staff members of color, and Quaker students, Guilford has surpassed its goals.

This semester Guilford beat its goal of 17 percent faculty of color by achieving 17.5 percent, its goal of 45 and 55 percent faculty and staff who are female with 47.6 and 60.1 percent, and its goal of 23 percent students of color with 30.8 percent.

“The fact that we’ve kept up with the diversity plan even before its implementation is a sign of good faith on the administration’s part,” said David Hammond, faculty representative and professor of theatre studies.

Favolise said that the Diversity Action Committee is also “ahead of schedule.”

Although the Diversity Action Committee (D.A.C.) will not be implemented until next spring, Favolis said that faculty, staff, and students, have already done a great deal using Guilford’s D.P. to push for and educate its community about diversity through student workshops and faculty diversity training.

Favolise said that plans for implementation, earlier than the original 2011 deadline, are well underway for next semester. Staff members have met frequently this semester with the Cultural Pluralism Committee to discuss the committee’s future and its progress toward achieving the objectives of the D.P.

Comprising students representatives, faculty, staff, and a variety of community organizations such as Human Resources and the Multicultural Education Department, the D.A.C. will provide feedback from and representation to various constituencies and stakeholders on campus to steer the D.P.

Hammond said that student participation in the committee is essential for it to function.

” I hope that people get on board, especially students, because we need positive support and good faith,” said Hammond.

Favolise said he already has student representatives in the committee but will continue to post information in The Buzz encouraging students to come to meetings and get involved.

“Idealistically it’s a good idea because we need more diversity and Guilford is predominantly white,” said sophomore Chris Johnson. “The fact that we actually need a diversity plan, though, says a lot about higher education. Naturally there should be more diversity.”

Junior Spencer Musick said there are pro’s and con’s to the plan.

The plan is a positive thing, said Musick. “The fact that we are trying to celebrate diversity in our student body is great but that comes with encouraging open-mindedness and inclusiveness among a divided student body. ItTs useless to encourage diversity when the student population is divided by trivial factors like status as an athlete or political ideology. A Quaker school must reach a consensuses that what separates us will continually weaken the community.