The
eorgetonian G
November 19, 2014 Volume CXXXIV Issue 10
Vinegar lectures on the presence of diversity The lecture centered on the quote “Diversity Today, Diversity Tomorrow, Diversity Forever”
By KATE DOCTOR Web Editor Last Tuesday, Rodney Vinegar from the Office of Diversity at Georgetown College held a lecture on the importance of diversity entitled “Diversity Today, Diversity Tomorrow, Diversity Forever.” Vinegar started off the lecture with a brief overview of the purpose of the seemingly ambiguous title of the lecture. This title was based off a 1963 quote from newly elected governor of Alabama, George Wallace, who infamously said, “Segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever” after someone inquired about his views on the integration of the different races. The title of this lecture is intended to be a foil of this quote, talking about the importance of diversity to society as a whole, and not just to minority groups. Vinegar defined diversity as “the condition of having or being composed of differing elements” or “the inclusion of different types of people.” He followed this up with a conversation about the circle of diversity, which talks about
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the different types of diversity and how they all relate to one another, from the personalities of each individual to where they stand within an organization or group. As an example, he uses the founding fathers of the United States. Vinegar talked about how even though the men were similar in a few aspects, such as landowner status and race, they were diverse in many ways. All of the men were born in different places, held different professions, and had different upbringings from childhood. Even though they lacked diversity in terms of race, diversity still existed within the group because of their differing experiences growing up and places within society at that time. With this being said, Vinegar posed the question: do you think the Constitution would have been different if different people had been involved in its drafting? Even though it most certainly would have been different, the founding fathers that were involved in the drafting of the Constitution were “just as diverse as anyone.” Another example Vinegar gives is PepsiCo, whose diversity endeavors have brought
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them huge success not just in diversifying their workforce, but also in the market as well. The CEO, Steve Reinmund, set forth goals for his executives to achieve every year, which included promotions at parity as well as turnover at parity, a controversial move on his part. However, he stood by this decision, and as a result, the turnover rate among people of color and women was twice as low as the turnover of white workers, and the company flourished. Vinegar then highlighted a few important key points in his lecture. One of them was, “You don’t have to sacrifice perfection for diversity.” He explained it further by explaining how no one is ever
really qualified for a job until they are given the opportunity to do that job, so race and gender should not really be an impediment to hiring a particular candidate. The next point was, “You have to hold leaders accountable to make a difference.” If one does not hold their leaders accountable, positive change will never happen. For example, Reinmund held his executives accountable for achieving diversity goals within their respective divisions, and as a result they hit all of their goals and promoted positive change within the company. The last key point presented was that “You don’t have to be a minority to be a champion for diversity.” He further drives this point home, saying how being inclusive of everyone is “just the right thing to do” and that you can be any ethnicity or gender to promote diversity within the workplace as well as within school. The lecture was brought to a close by touching on diversity in college. Vinegar talked about how diversity can help college students learn how to deal with many different personalities. This translates into real world jobs where one
has to deal with many different kinds of people within the workplace. It also makes one more adaptable and more empathetic, or understanding as Vinegar pointed out. It is also important to be mindful of how one treats their coworkers, for if one can’t get along and deal with different people, they will ultimately fail in their field and lose their job. This view of diversity is relevant to any job anyone aspires to get after graduating from college. Overall, Vinegar drove the point home that diversity is important to a functioning society as a whole.
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Source: Linkedin.com
Rodney Vinegar spoke on diversity in school and the real world.
The Georgetonian/NOAH KRIEGER
Diversity can help students deal with the many different personalities that people have.