“Cornell’s mission is to foster personal discovery and growth, nurture scholarship and creativity across a broad range of common knowledge…[o]ur legacy is reflected in the diverse composition of our community.”

— Cornell’s Statement on Diversity, from cornell.edu.

In 1993, a group of predominantly Latino students reacted to acts of discrimination and racism on campus by staging a nonviolent takeover of Day Hall. This protest culminated in a series of demands that the University agreed to address. Among the University’s commitments was the hiring of more underrepresented faculty and the strengthening of programs such as Latino Studies.

16 years later, however, Latino students continue to express disappointment with the modest pace of change. As three seniors on the verge of graduating, we ask ourselves why it continues to be our responsibility to remind the University of its own commitment to diversity. The legacy of activism exhibited with the Day Hall Takeover continues at Cornell and the Administration has yet to fully respond to our concerns.

The Latino Studies Program has witnessed a surge in interest over the past several years, despite offering a limited number of courses and operating with only a few professors. The Class of 2010 will see 26 seniors awarded minors in Latino Studies, a number that exceeds the number of majors in many departments across the University. It is important to note that not all of these 26 students are Latino: these are students from across the University that have realized that informed citizens must be aware of communities other than their own. LSP has contributed to our growth as scholar-citizens with a social consciousness.

The Class of 2013 has been heralded as the most ethnically diverse class known to Cornell history. This would suggest that the University has indeed targeted “diversity” as one of its core missions and strives to better the campus community as a whole by addressing problems of underrepresentation. It is clear, though, that although Cornell has admitted a more diverse class, it is not doing enough to serve the needs of that new diversity.

Since LSP is still an academic program and not a department, the core LSP faculty members are required to do their tenure-track in departments outside of LSP. What this translates to is overstretched faculty who do not have the time or resources to commit 100 percent to the strengthening and growth of LSP.

LSP currently has four professors that are jointly appointed. Of these four, only two are senior enough to be tenured in their respective departments. There is also one senior lecturer directly affiliated with the program. These professors benefit the University as a whole. Not only do they increase the variety of courses offered at Cornell, but they also serve as advisors, mentors and role models to all undergraduate students — not just those of Latino ancestry.

The University looks at these already overstretched faculty members to assist in the “personal discovery and growth” and to “nurture the scholarship and creativity” of the most ethnically diverse class ever admitted to Cornell. While, we are eternally grateful to the contributions from LSP affiliated professors and their commitment to LSP, we also see the glaring disparity in the amount of work that these professors must undertake given the token-ness that comes along with underrepresentation.

Is this truly how Cornell deals with diversity? Can we say that the resources currently provided are enough to address diverse needs of the incoming classes?

As the discussion of “reimagining” Cornell circulates and begins to take form, we are left to wonder what role Latino Studies will play in these initiatives. In his State of the University address on Oct. 23 of this year, President Skorton stated that over the next five years, Cornell will hire “hundreds of bold and brilliant faculty.”

We wonder if any of these “bold and brilliant” faculty will be under-represented faculty or work within underrepresented studies such as LSP. Will they have a commitment to mentoring under-represented students? Will Cornell be able to retain them or will they be driven away by the exhaustion of over-extension and over-commitment?

There is no doubt that every department in the University feels the burden of having to operate with significant budget decreases, but it is exactly during these times of duress that the goals and priorities of departments — and the University at large — are made clear. It no longer suffices to say that diversity is valued. A department’s appointment of one token faculty member does not signify a “commitment to diversity.”

We ask the administration to take notice of the significant progress that the Latino Studies Program has made since the mid-1990s and take tangible steps to ensure its continued success.

We advocate two responses: First, the University should hire more faculty that would have an affiliation with LSP. This will provide LSP with more courses, increase enrollments in the program, help to recruit students and help retain the faculty who are already here. Second, the University should make alumni aware that their contributions can be directed to the development of ethnic studies programs. Within a short period of time, many of us will be in a financial position to donate to the University on a regular basis. We hope to be able to support the programs that played a significant role in our professional and personal development, and we hope the University will facilitate that opportunity.

We do not stand alone.

[Editor’s Note: This column is the first installment of a five-part series exploring issues that impact multicultural and minority communities at Cornell. The series will run in The Sun this week.]

Sasha Lopez ’10 is the former co-Chair of La Associacion Latina and Director of Multicultural Participation on Senior Class Campaign. She is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences and can be reached at sml67@cornell.edu. Tomás Castellanos ’10 is the president of Cuban American Student Association and also serves on The Sun’s Weather Board. He is in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and can be reached at tec28@cornell.edu. Alex Cárdenas ’10 is the former Latino Studies Program Undergraduate Representative. He is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences and can be reached at rac84@cornell.edu.