CORRECTION APPENDED (SEE BOTTOM): Associate Dean of Student Life Jamele Adams revealed the results of a campuswide survey that gauged how Brandeis students respond to aspects of campus life outside their own backgrounds. He also outlined suggestions for improving community relations during his first State of Diversity address in the Shapiro Campus Center last night.

The survey, which Adams said he received 536 responses after it was e-mailed to all undergraduates last March, contained a myriad of questions pertaining to student life, residence life, academics, religion, prejudice, bias and other topics. Adams met with Diana Chiang '07, Arjan Singh Flora '07 and Marcus Simon '07 to design the survey last year, he said.

Adams said he wants to conduct this survey annually on campus "to see a book report on diversity" and give this diversity address every year as well.

Students reported that they identify themselves by topics in order to explain who they are, and thus the topics on the survey with the highest percentages of student participation, were religion, politics, socio-economic status and ethnicity, in that order. Adams added that students reported witnessing others being mistreated or misunderstood at Brandeis, with those four subjects as the root of that behavior.

Fifty percent of students reported themselves as upper-middle class, 12.5 percent from a working-class family and 10.5 percent with households earning an income of less than $30,000, Adams said. In terms of religion, the majority of students reported being Jewish, while 13 percent didn't list their faith.

Eighty-six percent of students reported that it was "general to very" true that they felt comfortable expressing their racial backgrounds, while 85 percent felt comfortable expressing their sexual identities, Adams said. Ninety-six percent said they had more than one friend outside of their religion, and 94 percent reported having friends outside their gender.

Despite those encouraging numbers, Adams did mention that 42 percent responded that they have felt judged or stereotyped by members of groups to which they don't belong.

"We can do better, but we are not doing hardly bad at all," Adams said.

Adams also described how students had positive attitudes regarding the effectiveness of campus clubs in enhancing the Brandeis community. Ninety-one percent of students felt a sense of community because of clubs, 79 percent reported that clubs and activities connected them with people from different backgrounds and 82 percent said that clubs make them feel safe, Adams said.

Students didn't have similarly positive attitudes toward communitywide meetings, Adams explained, as 59 percent reported that these meetings didn't help them feel a sense of community or connection to the school. Adams said this was something that needs to be addressed.

Adams' presentation began with a video taken in 2003 of students talking about themselves and topics of diversity related to the Brandeis campus. In the video, University President Jehuda Reinharz said the Brandeis community had become more diverse over the last decade.

Adams then read a poem by Cherie Moraga called "The Welder," which says that "We all come from the same rock; we all come from the same rock."

Adams added his own words to the end of the poem, creating an analogy about how risks must be taken both in the physical construction projects taking place on campus and the creation of a diverse community in order to achieve a harmonious environment at Brandeis.

"The community embraces the journey and moves forward in hard-hat conditions," he said.

Adams said we need to bring in ideas, programs and conversations that are directed toward people in specific areas or groups, as well as guest speakers and performances that will contribute to understanding difference. He said we're part of a generation that doesn't practice the art of dialogue.

He added that building relationships with peers is crucial and that "relationships are the cornerstone of diversity."

Adams said Provost's Marty Krauss' steering committee on diversity is working on formulating a mission statement on diversity. The committee is also putting out a DVD that will be similar to the one shown at the beginning of Adams' address, he said. There is also a University prejudice response taskforce for the community, Adams added.

Prof. Mark Auslander (ANTH) spoke briefly about the new Community Engaged Learning program, which seeks to connect Brandeis students with Waltham residents.

Adams ended by speaking about some of the initiatives the school has recently taken to address issues related to diversity, including holding an open dialogue concerning the Gravity magazine controversy, as well as a discussion with members of the Queer Resource Center and Triskelion, which led to the hiring of a professional staff member to work with each group.

Correction: The article incorrectly stated that 530 undergraduates responded to the survey. Five hundred and thirty six responded.