BEVERLY DAN I EL TATU MlrtoE3oC'2o"lf institutions of higher education are able tcrbring together students from various ethnicand racial backgrounds at the critical time oflate adolescence and early adulthood, theyhave the opportunity to disrupt an insidiouscycle of lifetime segregation that threatensthe fabric of our pluralistic democracy" ( 116).The benefits of engaging diversity are com-pelling, blrt are enough students taking ad-vantage of these formal and informal learningopportunities? The popular perception is thatthey are not. Newspapers and magazines regu-larly feature stories about the dilemma of so-called "self-segregation" on college campuses.The question, "\Uhy are all the black kids sit-ting together in the cafeteria?" is frequentlyasked in this context (Thtum 1997). Despitethis percepri()n, there is some evidence thatthere is more student desire for cross-group in-teraction than a quick glance in the cafeteriamay indicate.In a recent study of friendship groupswithin a diverse campus community, An-thony Lising Antonio (1999) found thatwhile over 90 percent of the 638 third-yearstudents he surveyed reported that studentspredominantly cluster by race and ethnicity,almost half (46 percent) described their ownfriendship groups as racially and ethnicallymixed with no racial or ethnic group predomi-nating. Clearly these students did not viewtheir own behavior as the norm.In a study of Berkeley undergraduates, TroyDuster (1993) and his associates found thatmost students express interest in more interra-cial experiences, yet how that interest is ex-pressed varies along racial lines. lVhite stu-As we considercreating climatesof englagement,we must beintentional instructurin$opportunitiesto cross thelong-standingboundaries thatseparate usin AmericansocietyTHE,ABCAPPTO CREATING CLIMATESOF ENGAGEMENT ONDIVERSE CAMPL]SESThe Benefits of EnglagementIncreasingly, faculty, students and administra-tors alike are recognizing the importance ofengagement across difference as an essentialdimension of preparing the next generationfor effective participation in a pluralisticworld (AAC&U1995). This assess'ment of the importance of diversity is sup-ported by a growing body of empirical re-search demonstrating the educational benefitsof learning in a diverse community (Hurtado1999). For example, social psychologist PatGurin ( 1999) has found that students who ex-perienced the most racial and ethnic diversityin and out of their classrooms showed thegreatest engagement in active thinkingprocesses, growth in intellectual engagementand motivation, and growth in intellectualand academic skills. Moreover. thev showedthe most engagement during college in vari-ous forms of citizenship, the most engagementwith people from different races and cultures,and were the most likely to acknowledge thatgroup differences are compatible with the in-terests of the broader community. These re-sults persisted beyond graduation. Studentswith the most diversity experiences duringcollege had the most cross-racial friends,neighbors, and work associates nine years af-ter college entry.The last finding is a particularly powerfulone in light of the self-perpetuating power ofsegregation in U.S. society. Gurin concludes,BEVERLY DANIEL TATUM.is deqn of the college atMl HolyokeCollege22 LTBERAL EDUcATtoN FALL 2ooolrlocfo(,2odents who wanted to make friends withAfrican Americans wanted to do so in infor-mal settings and were less likely to want toparticipate in special programs, courses' or ac'tivities that structure interethnic contacts'Conversely, African Americans were far morelikely to want special programs and activitiesand were less interested in developing cross'racial friendships and social activities. Dusterconcludes, "The task is to provide all sudentswith a range of safe environments and optionswhere they can explore and develop on termsthat they find comfortable. In the absence ofsuch opportunities, the tendencies remain foreach group to see the others from a distance,in terms of images, stereotypes, stories, andmyths that are not informed by direct contactand experience" (241).How then can we create campus environ-ments where engagement across lines of dif.ference is perceived as a norm, rather than asan exception? How can we maximize thelearning opportunities created by the diversityof our communities? Drawing on an under'standing of identity development during thecollege years and the insights provided by theresearch on diversity in higher education, Iet'sconsider a three-pronged approach, which Ihave referred to elsewhere (Tatuml99B) asthe ABCs: affirming identity, building com.munity, and cultivating leadership. This ap-proach has implications for curricular as wellas co-curricular initiatives on campus, andboth will be considered in this discussion.AtfirminC identityAll undergraduate students, regardless of age,are engaged in an important process of explo-ration, asking the questions, Who am I? Whatwill I be? With whom will I be associated? Theconcept of identity is a complex one, shapedby individual characteristics, family dynamics,historical factors, and social and political con-texts. \il/ho am I? The answer depends in largepart on who the world around me says I am.Who do my parents say I am? Who do mypeers say I am? What message is reflected backto me in the faces and voices of my teachers?My neighbors? The store clerks? What do Ilearn from the media about myself? How am Irepresented in the cultural images around me?Or arn I missingfrom the picture ahogether?In order to create a climate of engagement,we must begin by asking what images are re.24 LTBERAL EDucArtoN FALL 2oooflected in the mirror of our institutions. Doesthe reflection affirm the identities of all our stu-dents? Every student should be able to see im'portant parts ofherself reflected in some way.All should be able to find themselves in thefaces of other students and among the facultyand staff, as well as reflected in the curriculum'In addition to the important work of curric-ular inclusion, a common approach to affirm-ing marginalized identities institutionally isthrough the establishment of cultural centers.At Mount Holyoke College, there are fivesuch spaces, serving the needs of the African'American/Afro-Caribbean, Latina, Native'American, Asian and Asian-American, andlesbian/bisexual/transgendered student popu'lations. Some observers argue that while theexistence of such curricular and co-curricularspaces affirms identity, they