Running head: MULTICULTURALISM IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Multiculturalism in Higher Education

Robert Boyce
Georgia Southern University

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Multiculturalism in Higher Education

Introduction
Higher education is a diverse field; where students, faculty, and administrators from
multiple paths of life come together in order to enrich the future leaders and workers of society.
In order to help the students, grow faculty and administrators must use key tools that help
promote and explore multiculturalism. Thereby helping the students and preparing them for the
vast connected world ahead, where they will engage with people from different backgrounds
than themselves or their former peers. By looking at the University of Florida and examining
how they operate through multiculturalism it is possible to find ways to improve not only that
school, but others within the country. It can also be used to help the university find ways to
increase multicultural enrollment. The University of Florida is a public four-year institute based
in Gainesville Florida. It was ranked 14th in the world for public universities according to the
U.S. news and world publication (University of Florida, 2015c).
Enrollment
The University of Florida has had an average enrollment of near 50,000 students for the
last five years (University of Florida, 2015a). Of those students, the majority tends to be white or
Caucasian which comes in at around 55 percent of the student population during the fall semester
of 2013 (University of Florida, 2015a). Enrollment plays a key role in multiculturalism, not only
is it the start for gathering diversified students, but it also helps to bring new ideas to a university.
Over the decade between 2004 and 2014 the student populace of the University of Florida has
been changing. The percentage of Caucasian students has decreased slightly from 67.16 percent
in 2004 to 55.31 percent in 2014 (University of Florida, 2015a). The greatest increase in any

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other racial culture has been in the Hispanic culture; back in 2004 there was a percentage of
10.67, though now in 2014 the percentage has increased to 16.36 (University of Florida, 2015a).
This growth can be attributed to many different factors. One of those factors is the student affairs
department. The student affairs department can help build the ethnic makeup of the institute by
creating a multicultural affairs center and by bringing diversity education to different aspects of
the student affairs department.
Multicultural Affairs
The department of multicultural and diversity affairs at the University of Florida has a
mission which states, Multicultural and Diversity Affairs promotes an inclusive campus
community by creating environments in which students learn about themselves and others,
engage in meaningful inter- and intra-cultural dialogue, and enhance their leadership and
commitment to social justice, (University of Florida, 2015b). The multicultural affairs office
offers several different programs that help students from different cultures experience and
understand social justice.
Along with understanding social justice the department of multicultural affairs gives out
awards based on the impact a student can have in a community for diversity. One of those awards
is the J. Michael Rollo Diversity Impact award that one is handed out to a student who makes
that impact in numerous communities across the school campus (University of Florida, 2015b).
There are also several different cultural clubs which celebrates different cultural groups,
such as Asians, Latino, and African American cultures. These culture groups are run by their own
cultural affairs groups. The culture groups are used to help students understand and interact with
those specific ethnic backgrounds. By using these tools, the University of Florida has been able

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to help increase its enrollment and make it more diverse throughout the institute. An important
factor for all student affairs personnel to keep in mind is that university education and college in
general is an opportunity for students to begin tolerating, learning, and engaging in intercultural
learning and diversity (Ari & Laron. 2014). This is why having the culture clubs at the
University of Florida will be helpful for boosting enrollment and educating students on different
cultures.
Housing and Residence Education
The housing and residence education maintains the residence halls and campus housing
for incoming and returning students. These halls are an excellent place for students to interact
and a great start for most incoming freshmen. The University of Florida should focus their
attention on how to bring more diversity to the housing and residential area. The residence and
housing administrators need to take the time to learn about the different cultures that could be
staying with them. To give the school a better chance of enrolling and growing in a multicultural
world staff must take the time out to look at some of the ways that social workers have been
instructed in diversity techniques.
One of those techniques that could be useful for the housing department would be
sensitivity to cultural differences. This specific training helps to ensure that administrators will
not use one standard of behavior to gauge their students (Ben-Ari, A. & Nadan, Y. 2013). By
partaking in this training, administrators gain the ability to bring cultural information to their
residences locations. This will allow other students to learn about diversity as they move onto
campus, and it will show that the campus is welcoming to a varied group of students.

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Another important information set is cultural information on the other. The information
about the other cultures will help faculty and staff better understand where the diverse student
populace is coming from. It will also give them a way to market the institute towards those
people groups with more ease and understanding. Knowing about the other cultures means to
know about their history and origins; all of this information should be used to find ways to
incorporate those students into the university family. Students that go through fasting periods
during the day and can only eat after darkness falls should have options at the dining halls to
have at least one open, or to have takeout meals for the students and faculty involved.
Counseling and Wellness
There is a time in most students lives when counseling or wellness may become a
priority. The University of Florida offers both of these facilities for their students as well as their
faculty, staff, and the family members of those at the university. Counseling and wellness plays a
pivotal role in the protection and development of the students. Counselors must be well prepared
to face the many different cultural aspects of the students and faculty that they serve. Giving the
counselors and wellness staff training in multiple cultures; as well as, working with them to learn
new languages will help to make the students and administrators feel more comfortable when
using their services.
Another important factor for the counseling and wellness department can be found in the
Levels of Integration of Multicultural Content by James Banks. In this summary article Banks
describes the four levels of multicultural content. Level one would be a good start for any
counseling department, the contributions approach would be taking into consideration the
important ethnic and cultural events and special days (Banks, 2003). By learning about special
holidays and events that are culturally linked to the student populace, the counseling office will

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be able to better understand what students are going through. An example of this would be taking
into account the month of Ramadan for those who culturally celebrate it. Counseling services
should be available for students that will be going through that period. They should know
something about it, and be ready to assist students with discussion or in any way that they can to
make the time period less stressful for them.
Leadership and Service
The leadership and service department plays a crucial role in the student affairs
department. This department is one that goes out and impacts the communities around the
institute and it helps to prepare students to become leaders for the world during and after college.
The impact they have on multiculturalism is vast, and it can be felt throughout the entire school
and it reflects on every aspect of the institutes teaching and development of the students. By
including community service as part of their creed the leadership center can impact different
culture centers around the institute. Training the students and the faculty here is most crucial to
show that the university itself is interested in learning from, and helping all cultures.
Leadership in a multicultural world must be developed for college students to be
successful in most avenues of life. The leadership and service office should find ways to take
students through the level of integration of multicultural content. Students need to be trained on
the fourth level of the scale, where they follow a social action approach. There students are
trained to review social issues and make decisions that may solve those issues; the social action
approach also includes the elements from the previous levels of the content scale (Banks, 2003).
The idea behind this level of the scale is to help students become strong decision makers,
prepared for social criticisms, and to see them experience a challenge to their own ideas or
practices (Banks, 2003).

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An important factor that can help this group to grow is being bilingual or learning a
different language. This point is best illustrated by Richard Thompson in his article Basing
Educational Anthropology on the Education of Anthropologist. Bilingualism and biculturalism
are especially important for white Euro-Americans whose in-depth exposure to a non-European
culture and a minority language will add to linguistic competence and stimulate empathy for
minority cultures (Thompson, R.H. 2003).
By introducing more bilingual and multicultural staff members to the counseling and
wellness center the University of Florida can grow its diverse population. It shows to the world
that the school is willing to work with any culture group, and that students can become prepared
to handle diversity, while still having the comforts of someone who knows their language to
speak to.
Conclusion
Strengthening multiculturalism at a university is a multi-step process. It is not something
that can be done quickly or easily, but the rewards that follow are great and the boost in
enrollment as well as a better understanding of the cultures within the world can be limitless.
Faculty and administrators must take into account the multiple cultures residing in the world
today. They have to anticipate where their students are coming from and what culture they are
bringing to the institute. They must also be ready to serve the new students and make them
comfortable. By learning about the cultures and having bilingual staff universities can help
students who enjoy speaking in a different tongue. By learning about special cultural events
student affairs staff members can be prepared for when students on campus go through those
occasions, they shall also know how to assist the student or at least have the empathy to relate to
them.

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Another important note is that not only should multicultural education be done
throughout student affairs, but through all parts of a universitys governing system. All segments
of administration and faculty deal with students to some degree. By training the entire staff a
university can be more prepared to intervene in any circumstance that appears. This will also
produce a positive image for students applying to that school, which will bolster multicultural
enrollment.

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References
Ari, L.l., & Laron, D. d. (2014). Intercultural learning in graduate studies at an Israeli college of
education: Attitudes towards multiculturalism among Jewish and Arab students. Higher
Education, 68(2), pp 243-262
Banks, J. (2003). Levels of integration of multicultural content. Retrieved from:
http://resources.css.edu/DiversityServices/docs/LevelsofIntegrationofMulticulturalConten
t.pdf
Ben-Ari, A. & Nadan, Y. (2013). What can we learn from rethinking multiculturalism in social
work education? Social Work Education, 3298), pp 1089-1102. doi:
10.1080/02615479.2012.723686
Thompson, R. H. (2003). Basing educational anthropology on the education of anthropologists
can bilingualism and biculturalism promote the fundamental goals of anthropology better
than multiculturalism? Anthropology & Education Quarterly, (1). p 96.
University of Florida. (2015a). Enrollment & demographics. Retrieved from:
http://ir.aa.ufl.edu/enrollment
University of Florida. (2015b). Multicultural affairs mission, vision, and values. Retrieved from:
http://www.multicultural.ufl.edu/about/mission_vision_values/
University of Florida. (2015c). University facts. Retrieved from:
http://www.ufl.edu/about/university-facts/