While searching for colleges, students normally consider tuition, size, living conditions, academic interests and possibly the male to female student ratio. However, there is another aspect many students are concerned with today: the diversity of the student population.

When I transferred to the University of Northern Iowa from Loras College, the diversity of the student population was not something I considered. I just wanted a bigger school with a better music program than my previous college. UNI certainly satisfied my personal requirements. However, when I thought about attending a bigger school, I envisioned a multicultural community.

Two college search engines, www.collegefactual.com and www.collegeprowler.com, report that the UNI student population is roughly 88 percent Caucasian, 3 percent African-American, 2 percent Hispanic, 1 percent Asian and 3 percent non-resident alien. The statistics speak for themselves; UNI does not have an ethnically diverse student population.

Scholars argue a multicultural student body can enhance education.

“In an increasingly diverse country that is inextricably connected to a larger ‘global’ community, we must reconsider what it now means to be an active and productive member of society. As colleges and universities have recognized and responded to these trends, their mission statements have undergone a process of rather dramatic transformation,” said Jeffrey Milem, former director of the provost’s research collaborative at the University of Maryland, a research program that studies how students’ experiences with diversity influence a range of learning outcomes.

This mission statement transformation is evident in UNI President William Rudd’s written address to the school last week.

“At UNI, we place high value on education that encourages a diversity of ideas and increases students’ depth of intellectual inquiry and discovery,” Ruud said.

The best way to encourage a “diversity of ideas” is to have a multicultural student population. Although UNI seems to realize the importance of having a student population with diversity in ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation, the school needs to move past understanding and take action towards making our school a more multicultural community.

This semester I am taking multicultural literature, and I can only imagine the difference more diverse classes would make on discussions.