Diversity Report for the Iowa

State Daily and Iowa State

University Administration
Team Delta
Jessica Buss, Carrie Cunningham, Amanda Friedland, Riley Hayes, Emmaline
McNeal
 Table of Contents
I. Executive Summary
II. Introduction
III. Situation Analysis
IV. Case Study
V. Qualitative
VI. Quantitative
VII. Key Research Themes
VIII. Strategies for Implementation
IX. Paid/Advertising Components
X. Earned Component
XI. Owned Component
XII. Conclusion
XIII. Bibliography/Appendix

Executive Summary

Beginning in September of 2016, the Iowa State Daily Media Group along with the Iowa

State University administration set out to become as inclusive and diverse as possible in both

their university publications and campus resources. The Daily has a responsibility to not only
report on the attitudes and events surrounding these issues on campus but also to facilitate open

discussions on them - such as issues like the white supremacy posters that were put up around

campus before the presidential election. The first step of our research was to find out what those

attitudes, opinions and realities actually are.

We started this by conducting secondary research on what the University and The Daily

have already done to make sure that each underrepresented group, or minority, gest their

voices heard. We found that many clubs on campus facilitate open discussions and that through

Iowa States Strategic Plan, The University already has a lot set in place in terms of dealing with

diversity issues that could arise. We found that The Daily Media Group publishes many stories

that involve different diversity issues but they dont always seek multiple angles and opinions for

their articles.

We followed the secondary research up with a case study on the University of Minnesota.

We compared what initiatives they have set in place already and spoke with different faculty and

students to see how it is being received. One of the strongest things we found was that the

University of Minnesota has their paint the bridge tradition. This is a bridge on campus that

anyone is free to graffiti and write any message that may be on their mind. This opens the

Universitys eyes to any different diversity issues they may have missed otherwise and allows all

students to express themselves freely.

The next step for our research was the qualitative and quantitative studies. This is where

we found common themes as to what the University could change in The Daily and on campus.

Our recommendations for the University would be to make sure that when they host cultural

events that all groups are included and feel welcome to join. One of our personal interviewees

stated that there was a Hispanic night on campus but Venezuela wasnt represented. The
University could also benefit from opening an online diversity forum in order to see what other

issues may come to light.

Our recommendations for The Iowa State Daily would be to start an open diversity

column and pull from multiple Hispanic nationalities when wanting a Hispanic opinion about

issues on campus. The Hispanic community made it clear that not all Hispanic nationalities have

the same opinions and are often quite different in nature. We think this could apply and benefit

different variations of Asian, African and European groups as well.

Introduction

Iowa State is a well-respected and recognized university that prides itself with the

education it has to offer students. In order to learn more about inclusivity and diversity within

Iowa States campus and university publications, our team conducted interviews, surveys,

research and focus groups. These research methods were focused on Hispanics and Hispanic-

Americans, the largest minority group in the United States. We also incorporated the input of

Caucasians as they are the majority at Iowa State. Through our findings it became evident that

there is a lack of campus-wide knowledge regarding diversity which will be a challenging

obstacle to overcome. Trying to make a significant difference on such a large group of

individuals appears to be a daunting task. While Iowa State offers particular clubs/ organizations

for underrepresented groups, there is still room for improvement to ensure that each nationality

feels equally represented on campus. We believe our campus should adhere to an overall goal of

raising awareness about minority groups, such as Hispanics, and give every voice the chance to

be heard.

Situation Analysis
 Iowa States campus has faced a few issues recently regarding diversity and inclusion.

The first issue was posters being placed around campus concerning white supremacy. This

caused an uproar amongst students and faculty to the point of President Leath making a

statement. A video of him speaking about the intolerance of racism or other forms of bigotry was

emailed to each student. There have also been issues over what is constituted as freedom of

speech amongst students and what can and cant be said.

The Iowa State Daily aims to make sure each student feels represented on campus. They

strive for making minorities on campus feel that they have a voice and it is just as important as

the majority. It was our job to find the best ways to make sure that this was the case and what we

can to do better their efforts.

Case Study

For our case study we decided to research what The University of Minnesota does to

promote diversity and inclusion on their campus. We decided on The University of Minnesota

due to the fact that its a large midwestern school much like Iowa State.

To begin our case study, we first looked at the similarities and differences of Iowa State

University and The University of Minnesota. We looked at both geographic locations, student

populations, most known programs and diversity breakdown. This information helped us

determine what sort of programs we should be looking for and whom we should be talking to for

more information.

We began looking for diversity programs on The University of Minnesotas website. The

first program we found was The Core Initiative. The University is seeking eighth graders that

are first generation citizens from impoverished backgrounds around the St. Paul and Minneapolis

area. Their hope is to create a community outreach program that will mentor these teenagers in
hopes of having high achieving multicultural students in the state of Minnesota along with

having more of a multicultural student population later attend The University of Minnesota.

Another program The U of M provides is The Huntley House. This is a house that any

African American man that is attending Minnesota can live in if they chose. Its aim to build a

community for the men and explore issues of diversity, ethnicity and identity. An office that The

University of Minnesota provides students and faculty the help from is The Equal Opportunity

and Affirmative Action Office. This office investigates student's complaints about anything from

racism to sexual assault on campus. They are the mediator between the accuser and whomever is

being blamed.

The University of Minnesota also provides The Disability Resource Center. This Center

aims to inform instructors how to better serve people with disabilities. They hope to create a

space that allows faculty to cater to the needs of those with physical and mental handicaps. They

hold workshops for Minnesota staff that want disability training. Lastly, The University of

Minnesota provides the program IDEA (Institute for Diversity, Equity and Advocacy). This is

program is designed to enhance retention of diverse faculty and students at The University of

Minnesota by holding workshops, lectures and symposiums about diversity and inclusion. They

also give faculty grants and create scholarships that address diversity.

Next we conducted a phone interview with Senior Lecturer and Journalist Gayle Golden

to speak about how inclusive media is at The University of Minnesota. During her interview she

talked about how The Minnesota Daily and Radio K have very inclusive stories. Golden also

spoke about how politics and the recent election have caused many protests and debates amongst

students on campus and have caused issues over what exactly free-speech covers.
 After speaking with Gayle Golden, we decided that it was important to speak with an

actual student of campus to get more perspective on The University of Minnesotas success with

diversity and inclusion. We spoke with student and CEO of Kappa Alpha Theta, Hannah Smith.

She stated, Minnesota is a very diverse campus and I think the Daily does a good job making

sure people feel represented and that their voices are heard. As a Greek Community, we feel

supported and understood by the University.

Qualitative

To begin our qualitative research, we formed a focus group with eight people along with

five personal interviews reaching out to a variety of nationalities in the Spanish speaking

communities here on campus. In order to find these people we looked through clubs and

organizations as well as reaching out to friends. The people we spoke with were of three

different spanish speaking backgrounds being, Puerto Rican, Venezuelan and Costa Rican.

From all the questions we asked we learned that everyone needs to contribute to diversity

and inclusion on campus. It should not only be up to the Spanish speaking community to

educate everybody about themselves. Students, faculty and The Daily could all contribute on

better integrating this group into Iowa State University. The students we talked to had many

great ways to improve diversity and inclusion on campus that are not hard to execute.

For example, starting a discussion board or column in the paper where students could leave

comments about diversity, the Daily could have more diverse writers and interview different

people , Iowa State could advertise events better, diminish stereotypes and offer more diverse

classes. Overall, they want everybody to know that each one of them is different but shares the

common bond of language. It is important to recognize that different nationalities have different

opinions.
 Quantitative

For our quantitative research we put together an online survey and conducted eight

personal interviews with Hispanic and Caucasian students to get a feel for common themes about

diversity and inclusion on campus. After gathering all of our research we found that seventy-six

percent were Caucasian and twenty-four percent were Hispanic which is very consistent with the

fact that Iowa State is 76% white. The students polled came up with some changes that could be

done in order to improve diversity. For example, Iowa state could offer an optional one credit

diversity class, similar to LIB 160. Another idea was to have an online diversity forum. This

would give students the space to openly talk and address issues that are important to them and to

their specific demographic.

Key Research Themes

When compiling all of our research we found four major research themes. The first

would be that actions speak louder than words. Iowa State talks a lot about being diverse and

wanting to be diverse but they dont always take action on those words. The minority groups

have really noticed this. It is also important to think about different nationalities and not be so

quick to group people together into very large categories and viewpoints. Those we talked to

often said that the Daily could do better at having a more diverse group of people writing for the

Daily and that not many varying opinions are noticeable in their writing. It was also noticed that

Iowa State doesnt actually have a formal class on diversity that it can offer to students. This,

along with a diversity column online would be a good addition to make strides towards being

more diverse and inclusive.

Strategies for Implementation

 Based on research findings, our team has established a variety of recommendations to

address the challenges regarding diversity on campus. Our team came to the conclusion that

awareness for cultural events is low and needs to be a higher priority in order to get diversity on

campus recognized. Similar to the University of Minnesota, Iowa State could incorporate a

freedom of speech wall to raise awareness about certain issues with sensitive topics, such as

diversity. Additionally, another recommendation involved on-campus housing. It was suggested

to make Residential Advisors focus or go through training to encourage more inclusivity for

those students living on campus. Other students proposed the idea of creating a required

diversity course, although the benefits would need to be weighed as many students may not take

a required class seriously.

While many of our research participants admitted to rarely reading the Iowa State Daily,

We believe the following implementations could pique the interest of certain underrepresented

groups. A diversity column in The Daily discussing the issues regarding diversity on campus is

one possible tactic. An online discussion or forum is another tactic that would help certain

individuals feel as though they are a part of a larger community and hopefully gain more

awareness to campus diversity. We also think The Daily should try to hire a willing, capable, and

more diverse writing staff.

Paid/Advertising Components

The Iowa State Daily can get more attention from minority students by placing

advertisements in restaurants or locations in Ames that form a sense of community for

minorities. The places can include restaurants such as El Azteca and TJ Cups. Another way The

Iowa State Daily can bring attention to diversity and inclusion with their paper is to sponsor

cultural events on campus such as Puerto Rican Night. This will not only help fund these events,
but also bring more attention to The Iowa State Dailys involvement with minorities on campus.

Lastly, The Iowa State Daily can advertise the newspaper on Cyride. Thousands of students and

faculty ride Cyride every day and this will give The Daily the ability to reach each one of them.

Earned Components

Since Iowa State does not own the Daily they get a lot of earned advertisement from the

University. There are also a lot of students who share news stories from the Daily on social

media and retweet from The ISD. The Daily was also recognized by the Society of Professional

Journalists as the Best School Paper of 2015. All three of these sources are a very good way to

spread awareness of the Iowa State Daily and to promote their stories.

Owned Components

In all our research we found out that most people do not read the physical copy of the

paper and 64% of our polled students didnt even know about the ISD App. Providing more

details about the app could get more students interested in reading the paper online. The app
could also be more interactive and have open online discussion/ forum. This would give students

the option to give The Daily feedback. By doing all of these changes The Daily could improve

the percent of students that read the paper over time. It could also be a smart idea to advertise

the ISD App at orientation so there is more awareness about it. The Daily also has their own

website and social media sites as owned components of advertising.

Conclusion

Through this research, it has become transparent that diversity on campus is

misrepresented and misunderstood. We found that the majority students and minority students

have quite different opinions of the diversity efforts here on campus. Our research concluded

that some suggested solutions were less favorable than others. Not all of our research findings

were expected and participants responded to certain questions in unexpected ways, opening our

eyes to alternative possibilities. It has been established that Iowa State has already set up a good

foundation on stating our mission, to create, share, and apply knowledge to make Iowa and the

world a better place. However, if we intend to strive to be the leading university in advancing

land grant ideas that put science, technology and human creativity to work, diversity needs to be

accepted and appreciated. It is highly recommended that the university consider creating a

freedom wall. We believe that merging this idea into the student culture, would gain the most

attention and reap many benefits.

As for university publications, The Iowa State Daily is known to be one of the best

college newspapers in the country and therefore has a reputation to uphold. The paper is a great

way to stay informed with what is happening on campus and to see where we are progressing as

a university. However, The Daily struggles to get students to read the physical copy of the paper.

One suggestion is to create more advertising for the ISD App and encourage students to get their
news through that outlet. Our findings also strongly encourage The Iowa State Daily to push

more controversial and personal stories to enhance the connection between the writer and

readers. Students, faculty and The Daily can all work on better integrating underrepresented

groups into Iowa State University. While many programs can be set in place to try to help

improve diversity it is up to us as a student body and a University to decide we want to be

inclusive and accepting.

 Bibliography/Appendix

Bibliography

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<https://diversity.umn.edu/idea/home>.

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2016." OIR. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2016. <http://www.oir.umn.edu/student/enrollment>.

"CORE 2025." Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2016.

<https://diversity.umn.edu/core2025>.

"Huntley House for African American Men." : African American & African Studies :
University of MInnesota. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2016.
<http://aaas.umn.edu/ugrad/huntleyhouse.html>.

"Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action." Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2016.
<https://diversity.umn.edu/eoaa/home>.

"Disability Resource Center." Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2016.

<https://diversity.umn.edu/disability/home>.

Interview with Hannah Smith [E-mail interview]. (2016, October 6).

Interview with Gayle Golden [Telephone interview]. (n.d.).
Interview with Dylan Scott [Telephone interview]. (n.d.).

Press, T. A. (n.d.). KU's diversity plan draws criticism from some Republican lawmakers.
Retrieved September 20, 2016, from http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-
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Appendix

Quantitative Online Survey URL: https://goo.gl/forms/FzjlZatSFmp4jAg12

Focus Group - Moderators Guide

How do you identify yourself in the Spanish speaking community? (ex: Puerto Rican,
Venezuelan, Costa Rican etc.)
Puerto Rican, Puerto Rican, Venezuelan, Venezuelan, Venezuelan, Puerto Rican, Puerto Rican,
Puerto Rican.

What is something The Iowa State Daily could do better to represent your demographic
more appropriately?
Diversity column in The Daily, allow more diverse writers for subjects about diversity. Variety of
who is interviewed, not all Hispanics are Mexican, different regions and different beliefs among
Hispanic community.
If you were the University - what steps would you take to make sure the campus is more
inclusive and that all demographics on campus feel represented?
More culture events on campus like Puerto Rican night. Classes on Hispanic culture and history.

Interview #1

How do you identify yourself in the Spanish speaking community? (ex: Puerto Rican,
Venezuelan, etc.)
Puerto Rican

Does Iowa State, in general, seem very inclusive and do a good job of representing your
demographic?
Yes, I think it is okay but it could always be better.

Have you ever felt, on Iowa States campus, that the student body, publications or campus
relations have ever underrepresented or misrepresented your demographic?
I don't really think so, the one this I feel like is that people tend to hang out with people from
their same nationality. There's not as much interactions between nationalities as I expected, but
then again this isn't that surprising because this is what humans usually tend to do, I just wish
there would be a way to facilitate the mix.

Do you feel confident when voicing your opinion - even when it is different from those
around you?
I don't really feel that different from my peers, so I'm pretty confident about my opinions, but
since I'm generally a shy person I tend not to.

Do you believe that a diverse workplace positively impacts performance?

I think diversity might not impact performance at doing a certain job but it certainly improves
lives and exposes people to different types of experiences that otherwise would not have taken
place.

What is something Iowa State, the Iowa State Daily or the general student population could
do better to represent your demographic more appropriately?
I think I'm being represented appropriately.

Do you find yourself working in more diverse student groups or groups with those of your
same demographic?
I usually find myself hanging out with people from my same demographic, I do hang out with
those outside of it. I get that since we're far from home that we'll make friends of the same
backgrounds as us to make a "safety blanket" I just wish it'd be easier to mix people from
different cultures.
If you were the University - what steps would you take to make sure the campus is more
inclusive and that all demographics on campus feel represented?
Make more activities (actual fun ones) that don't just cater to one demographic, but the whole
student body, that forces interactions between people from different groups.

Interview #2

How do you identify yourself in the Spanish speaking community? (ex: Puerto Rican,
Venezuelan, etc.)
Puerto Rican

Does Iowa State, in general, seem very inclusive and do a good job of representing your
demographic?
Yes, but it can improve.

Have you ever felt, on Iowa States campus, that the student body, publications or campus
relations have ever underrepresented or misrepresented your demographic?
I have every once and awhile.

Do you feel confident when voicing your opinion - even when it is different from those
around you?
Yes, because there are different opportunities for me here.

Do you believe that a diverse workplace positively impacts performance?

Yes, I do.

What is something Iowa State, the Iowa State Daily or the general student population could
do better to represent your demographic more appropriately?
It would help if there was a diversity column.

Do you find yourself working in more diverse student groups or groups with those of your
same demographic?
I work in both - either one works for me.

If you were the University - what steps would you take to make sure the campus is more
inclusive and that all demographics on campus feel represented?
Just making sure all groups have the same opportunities. Advertise more events around campus.

Interview #3
How do you identify yourself in the Spanish speaking community? (ex: Puerto Rican,
Venezuelan, etc.)
Venezuelan

Does Iowa State, in general, seem very inclusive and do a good job of representing your
demographic?
No, I dont think they do.

Have you ever felt, on Iowa States campus, that the student body, publications or campus
relations have ever underrepresented or misrepresented your demographic?
I feel like people are only aware of the Mexican community - unaware of other smaller
demographics

Do you feel confident when voicing your opinion - even when it is different from those
around you?
Yes, I dont have any reservations about that.

Do you believe that a diverse workplace positively impacts performance?

Yes!

What is something Iowa State, the Iowa State Daily or the general student population could
do better to represent your demographic more appropriately?
Making others aware that there are multiple types of Hispanic groups - this even crosses over
into the Asian culture where people think all asians are Chinese and leave out the Japanese or
Vietnamese, etc.

Do you find yourself working in more diverse student groups or groups with those of your
same demographic?
Diverse - but mostly Caucasian people

If you were the University - what steps would you take to make sure the campus is more
inclusive and that all demographics on campus feel represented?
More awareness about the different nationalities in The Daily or University publications. Almost
all Hispanic people interviewed or writing are from either Mexico or Puerto Rico.

Interview #4

How do you identify yourself in the Spanish speaking community? (ex: Puerto Rican,
Venezuelan, etc.)
Puerto Rican
Does Iowa State, in general, seem very inclusive and do a good job of representing your
demographic?
Yes, I think so.

Have you ever felt, on Iowa States campus, that the student body, publications or campus
relations have ever underrepresented or misrepresented your demographic?
Many activities that are meant to promote diversity sometimes exclude our cultural contributions
and just categorize it together with other communities that have no relation to our demographic.

Do you feel confident when voicing your opinion - even when it is different from those
around you?
Yes, because I find that it is important for people to understand that not everything is in black
and white and that even though some people don't have the same rights as others they still
deserve to be heard.

Do you believe that a diverse workplace positively impacts performance?

I strongly agree. Diversity in the workplace allows for more efficiency in the field of work by
enhancing the common mindset of the workplace and offering new ways to execute things, along
with a different perspective towards situations.

What is something Iowa State, the Iowa State Daily or the general student population could
do better to represent your demographic more appropriately?
It has done a good job so far but maybe write more about different types of students on campus.

Do you find yourself working in more diverse student groups or groups with those of your
same demographic?
I tend to work with more diverse student groups

If you were the University - what steps would you take to make sure the campus is more
inclusive and that all demographics on campus feel represented?
Make a forum or questionnaire to have an approximate on the different demographics that are
currently on campus and make sure that they are all given the same importance and
representation throughout the university.

Interview #5

How do you identify yourself in the Spanish speaking community? (ex: Puerto Rican,
Venezuelan, etc.)
Venezuelan
Does Iowa State, in general, seem very inclusive and do a good job of representing your
demographic?
Sometimes

Have you ever felt, on Iowa States campus, that the student body, publications or campus
relations have ever underrepresented or misrepresented your demographic?
Usually, in the publications or major events minority students aren't usually taken into account or
included.

Do you feel confident when voicing your opinion - even when it is different from those
around you?
Yes

Do you believe that a diverse workplace positively impacts performance?

Yes

What is something Iowa State, the Iowa State Daily or the general student population could
do better to represent your demographic more appropriately?
Take students from other cultures into account when doing surveys, changing policies and
generalizing the whole student body.

Do you find yourself working in more diverse student groups or groups with those of your
same demographic?
I tend to work with people from my same demographic because I don't know many people from
other cultures on campus.

If you were the University - what steps would you take to make sure the campus is more
inclusive and that all demographics on campus feel represented?
Include discussion classes to create awareness about the diverse cultures on campus.