Last week, Dana Fields, the minority programs coordinator for the College of Science and Mathematics, attended the Diversity Research conference, “Understanding Differences that Matter: Diversity Research at Auburn University.”

The conference, sponsored by the Research Initiative for the Study of Diversity, was held on October 29-30 at the Auburn University Hotel and Conference Center and featured speakers Patricia Arredondo and Elijah Anderson.

Fields, originally from Louisiana, has worked to promote diversity at Auburn University for the past four years. Since then, she has observed a great need for diversity at Auburn.

While it is important to recruit and retain a diverse group of students, Fields believes that the university should put a greater emphasis the importance of interactions between diversity students.

“Unfortunately, sometimes students who are in the majority can leave their whole four years of college without having a meaningful relationship with someone who is different from them. I think that’s a big issue on college campuses today,” explained Fields.

In order to communicate better, students must make an effort to better understand each other. That involves learning how to be more inclusive and develop strong relationships with all types of people.

If advertised well, Fields sees this conference as a great opportunity for improvement in diversity at Auburn University and she believes it will bring light to the importance of diversity on campus.

“It brings diversity to the forefront,” she said.

Shakeer Abdullah, the director of the Multicultural Center at Auburn University, agrees. “I think to be able to host a conference like this is really going to put Auburn at the forefront in the region, in terms of diversity. It’s important to understand what other people are doing well, to learn from them, and to borrow from the best ideas,” he explained.

By holding this conference on Auburn’s predominantly white campus, researchers were able to share their findings and explore ways to improve diversity at Auburn University.

For more information about the Research Initiative for the Study of Diversity, visit their website at https://fp.auburn.edu/researchdiversity/Default.aspx.