Associate Dean of Student Life in Support of Diversity Jamele Adams summed up the state of Brandeis' diversity when he said:"We can do better, but we are not doing hardly bad at all."

This sentence speaks not only to the attitudes toward diversity that permeate the campus, but also to how the subject is portrayed by the administration. There are many racial minority students who have reported feelings of isolation on our majority white campus, yet recent statistics in a diversity survey could lull the community into a sense of complacency. If this doublespeak sentence says anything, it's that it's difficult to understand exactly what the state of diversity at Brandeis is.

Mr. Adams tried his best to make sense of this topic in his recent State of Diversity address and provided the campus with some very interesting figures from his recent survey.

The results of the survey, taken by 536 undergraduate students, went against several well-known stereotypes about Brandeis. For instance, around 60 percent of respondents said they have had a "rich social life" and 65 percent feel comfortable expressing their opinions, even when their opinions may seem unpopular. Especially promising is the answer to the question, "Has Brandeis exposed you to groups different than your own?" Nearly 95 percent responded in the affirmative. These responses could reflect the University's recently successful efforts to diversify, as minority enrollment increased by 9 percent this year (up to 24 percent); more classes on gender, ethnic and religious identity are offered every year; and cultural activities fill the my Brandeis calendar.

Still, the statistics can be misleading. While 84 percent of students in the survey said they are comfortable expressing their racial background, the students who reported feeling uncomfortable could have easily been all of minority backgrounds.

Another alarming statistic says that 33 percent are neutral on whether Brandeis is committed to diversity. If that's true, we have a long way to go.

Some racial minority students have reported that they don't feel part of the Brandeis community, fear rejection, stick to themselves and feel the presence of an overall campus divide between minority and non-minority students.

"I feel like there are two Brandeises going on at Brandeis, two experiences that are missing each other," said Mingh Daniel '10, a black student from the Bronx.

Clearly, there are deep and significant issues at hand. But we must go beyond a survey, as presenting statistics without analysis isn't very useful. Now that we have these numbers, students, staff and faculty should delve into them and find answers for how to bridge the campus divide.

The new statistics should serve as jumping-off points for discussion throughout the year. Mr. Adams should lead focus groups on how to hold more activities on diversity in residence halls and how faculty can continue to offer more courses on diversity. Since about 56 percent of students also reported that relationships with peers are most significant in contributing to a "deeper understanding of issues related to difference," one-on-one conversation should be an effective tool.

These focus groups can also serve as a valuable follow-up to Mr. Adams' annual diversity address. Simply telling us the statistics, without getting our reactions to them, isn't enough. A more communal analysis is needed. At focus group discussions, students should give Mr. Adams specific feedback on the survey's results that he can incorporate into his future initiatives.

Rather than waiting for the next big explosion over media or speaker insensitivity, ongoing discussions could maintain a sense of community and comfort with addressing our weaknesses. A diversity committee, a group composed of student leaders from cultural groups as well as several faculty members, could lead these ongoing discussions.

The survey also showed that clubs contribute significantly to students' sense of community at Brandeis, and they can also be used more effectively as a forum to promote campus diversity. Ninety-one percent of students feel 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. Mr. Adams should help publicize club-sponsored cultural events through campuswide e-mails to make students more aware of them. In addition, he should help coordinators from cultural clubs with their recruitment efforts. If more non-minority students attend cultural events, or better yet, join cultural clubs, we will all gain a better understanding of each other. The majority of survey respondents, nearly 40 percent, said they have attended "an event highlighting an identity group different from their own" once or twice. Only 14 percent do so regularly. By attending one another's activities, we build community.

It's easy to see positive statistics and feel that we are doing a good job, but the topic of diversity is not a topic that can be explained in numbers; it is about the individual. We thank Mr. Adams for initiating this thoughtful, long-overdue survey. But now it's time to look beyond the numbers.