Ohio State employs 88 diversity-related staffers at a cost of $7.3M annuallySo ... how else is OSU going to add sufficient numbers of persons of color and other “diverse” members to their employment roster? Headcount matters when keeping federal quota-checkers at bay.
Actually, if OSU gets that many for only $7.3M, which includes benefits costs, they’re getting a bargain. They probably lowball diversity-related staff salaries.
The problem isn’t so much recruiting diverse students, although that’s hard enough. The real problem is retaining them once they arrive. Dropout levels are scary-high for diverse students.
So many are underprepared and unused to applying themselves to study hard. And universities are unable to completely protect diverse students from slights or lack of acceptance by faculty and fellow students, aka “microaggressions.”
As the numbers of traditionally successful young people reaching college age continue to decline, filling their seats with traditionally less-successful young people is the alternative to retrenching or closing campuses. All three of these responses will occur, lowered standards of performance will be utilized-but-denied.
