Letter from the Director of Diversity Services
The word diversity comes at the end of a long line of terms - integration, desegregation, inclusiveness, multiculturalism - that mean we must all live and be together equally in the various environments in our world. This evolution of terms for equality in togetherness, particularly as they relate to education, come directly to us from the 1954 cases grouped under Oliver Brown et al v. Board of Education of Topeka, in which Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren concluded:
[T]hat in the field of public education the doctrine of 'separate but equalÂ’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs and others similarly situated for whom the actions have been brought are by reason of the segregation complained of, deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the 14th Amendment. This disposition makes unnecessary any discussion whether such segregation also violates the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment... We have now announced that such segregation is a denial of the equal protection of the laws.
In the fifty plus years since Brown was handed down, we have seen in classrooms across the landscape the positive benefits of what Mr. Brown, his daughter, and so many others stood up for: that not only have we developed new language, we have put into practice the principles it implies by simply sitting next to and learning from one another.
Nonetheless, we must remain vigilant, even more than a half century later, to ensure that those important gains enabled by Brown are never lost. We here at the Washington College of Law have made the commitment. Come and join us.
Sherry A. Weaver
Director, Office of Diversity Services
American University
Washington College of Law
4801 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Suite 301
Washington, DC 20016-8181
Phone: 202-274-4032 4035 (voice mail)
E-mail: sweaver@wcl.american.edu
