When Diversity Drops: Race, Religion, and Affirmative Action in Higher Education

Shifting Strategies

81 After the passage of Prop. , black and Latino/a students were an extreme minority at CU and experienced much isolation, especially in the classroom. Numerous studies describe the constant tensions that such students experience on campuses where they are a minority and how “racial battle fatigue” wears them down over time (Feagin, Vera, and Imani ; Smith, Allen, and Danley ). At CU they understandably often wanted to spend their out-of-class time in environments in which they constituted the majority, such as ethnic student organizations or social clubs, rather than in groups that reinforced their minority status. As Lisa, a former IVCF staff member at CU, explained, “the pattern at CU is that [black students] will usually rub up against racism in their relationships with non-Blacks by November of their first quarter. This is typically when Black students will want to retreat into all-Black friendship networks. . . . This is typically when the CU fellowship used to lose contact with any Black students who were involved” (Harper , ). Two intersecting forces—CU’s increasingly homogeneous demography and minority students’ desire to spend free time with peers of the same race—explained why black and Latino/a students remained a minority in IVCF, despite the organization’s intentional pursuit of multiethnicity and racial reconciliation. Furthermore, even when these students did join IVCF, they paid a disproportionate cost to stay involved in the group: not only did they sacrifice their time in black or Latino/a havens, but they bore the burden of constantly educating the rest of the fellowship about race. In 5 Shifting Strategies Going Ethnic-Specific 82 WHEN DIVERSITY DROPS response, IVCF decided to develop ethnic-specific small groups as a way to support and retain URM students. Since the mid-s, when Doug’s staff team had begun to make race a central focus, the chapter had stressed its identity as multiethnic fellowship in contrast to the ethnic-specific IVCF chapters that existed around the country. The decision was a significant shift from the group’s previous hesitation about such communities. A Structural Evolution: CU’s Shift in Ethnic-Specific versus Multiethnic Debate Ethnic-specific ministry was nothing new for InterVarsity as a national organization. Black Campus Ministries (BCM), a network supporting predominantly black chapters and staff members, had existed in IVCF since . Its Asian equivalent, Asian Staff Fellowship, the precursor of Asian American Ministries, started in  (Rendall and Hammond ); and the first Asian American–specific chapters emerged in Chicago in the late s. By the early s, when IVCF at CU decided to begin developing ethnic-specific small groups, campus chapters all around the country were dedicated to serving specific ethnic groups. In numerous locations, multiple ethnic-specific chapters coexisted with one another at the same university.1 During the s, Doug and Sandy, among others, were vocal defenders of a multiethnic ministry model in which a campus had a single IVCF chapter comprised of students of different race/ethnicities. In contrast, many of their eastern and midwestern colleagues argued that ethnic-specific chapters were more effective at attracting new members and fostering students’ development of ethnic identity. As with debates on whether multiethnic or ethnic-specific churches are more or less practically and theologically sound (Garces-Foley ), camps of IVCF staff members around the country argued that their own ministry models were most appropriate. Sandy, who was prominently involved in these debates, co-wrote a position paper in which she presented a theological argument in favor of a multiethnic model while a staff member from Harvard’s Asian American chapter made the case for ethnic-specific chapters. Although she recognized that ethnic-specific chapters might be an effective way to meet students’ needs during the short span of college, SHIFTING STRATEGIES 83 Sandy asserted that separation was not a desired outcome. She cited the ethnically diverse early church in the New Testament book of Acts as a desirable model. Because of her belief in the “depravity of the human heart,” reflecting the belief of many evangelical Christians that humans are innately sinful, she professed that it was humankind’s tendency to avoid opportunities to reconcile or cross racial/ethnic lines. A multiethnic community could help counteract that tendency by making such interaction an integral component of the fellowship experience rather than a side option. While recognizing a need to serve the unique concerns of different ethnic groups, she ended by asserting her own personal...