A New Way to Talk about “Diversity”

Here’s
an instructive exercise:  The next time you read an article about
“diversity” (see, e.g., the
interview with the University of Wisconsin’s diversity honcho in Inside
Higher Ed today), mentally substitute the letters “BS” for “diversity”
every time the latter appears.  It’s amazing how much more accurate and
understandable the article becomes!  (It’s even better if you spell out
the word for which “BS” is the abbreviation.) 

Here,
I’ll get you started:

‘Strategic BS Leadership’

April 26, 2013 – 3:00am

By Scott Jaschik

College
and university leaders talk all the time about their commitment to BS. And, on
many campuses, students and faculty question the depth of that commitment. A
new book, Strategic BS
Leadership (Stylus) considers the steps colleges can take to
transform their campuses. The author is Damon A. Williams, vice provost and
chief BS officer at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Williams responded
via e-mail to questions about the book.

Q:
People in higher education use the term “BS” all the time, yet you
devote a chapter to defining it. Why is it important to define it, and how do
you define it?

A:
While “BS” has become one of the great buzzwords in the academy, it
is rarely defined accurately, and rarely in ways that address its complexity.
Etc.