How can someone possibly claim to be "all for diversity and a nondiscriminatory campus" when she is dumbfounded by the definition of diversity itself? If teaching assistant mandatory diversity training is infringing on Darryn Beckstrom's freedom of thoughts, couldn't we all argue that any required classes in high school or certain required college credits infringe on our freedom to explore only things we are interested in?

Companies, universities and all other institutions are bound to have certain requirements for their workers or employees to participate in, in hopes of meeting the objectives of their institutions. When I had a mandatory orientation to attend on the ethics of interning for the Lieutenant Governor's Office, did I throw my hands up in the air and claim that the office is restricting me of my rights because it doesn't allow me to define my own rules of ethics? Or do I complain about wasting my time and ask for a refund had I paid for it?

No, I attended the orientation because there obviously was a purpose behind it being held. My job simply was to follow through while keeping my mind open and attempting to learn how others see things.

University of Wisconsin-Madison's Plan 2008 is an all campus initiative to diversify its student body by the year 2008. Since teaching assistants have a major advantage in reaching the numerous students they TA for, it only make sense for them to understand their students' perspectives and needs as much as possible. Students are bound to come from a variety of backgrounds and a mandatory requirement for teaching and project assistants to attend one three-hour workshop is asking very little of its assistants in broadening their perspectives on diversity issues.

The goal of these workshops are not infringing on anyone's freedom of speech or any other First Amendment rights but simply helping assistants understand where their minority students come from. Do teaching assistants ever notice that their minority students tend to speak up less in class, not because they are dumb or shy, but because they feel uncomfortable in the space created by the TA and their peers?

During the past three years on this campus, I felt the majority of TAs could not understand where I was coming from because my perspectives were so different from theirs and the majority of my peers. The mandatory workshops attempt to bridge this misunderstanding and if Darryn Beckstrom got nothing out of it, aside from her wasting three precious hours, perhaps it is because the idea of diversity is completely strange and irrelevant to people who have never felt marginalized or discriminated based on their skin color before.

Unfortunately, for some of us, we understand this concept too well. It's even hard for us to put these 'discriminated against feelings' into words because the discrimination is always subtle and indirect. However subtle they are, the messages are always communicated clearly. After years of indirect but consistent degradation of our ideas and beliefs, these negative engrained images easily effect our determination of our self-worth.

I always feared stepping into a new discussion room at the start of a new semester because I didn't know how sensitive and understanding my new TA would be of my views. I'm not implying that I wouldn't want my TA or peers to "say anything that might offend [my] my group of people who are perceived to be socially disadvantaged or marginalized" but I would simply appreciate more sensitivity towards diverse ideas because I personally make the time to learn where others come from, in hopes of always creating a comfortable space for discussion by showing that I understand them although I don't always agree with them.

These mandatory workshops are a minor step in helping teaching assistants reach as many of their students as possible. They have their own objectives and these objectives can only be reached if the project and teaching assistants attend them with the right frame of mind. Darryn Beckstrom pushed her training off as long as possible because she felt it irrelevant. When she finally attended one, she still didn't understand its purpose which only led her to confirm what she already came in believing — that the training was wasteful.

If she is so concerned about keeping issues such as diversity in public forums for mature adults to discuss, I suggest her bringing up the topic in her classroom discussions and letting students talk it out. In the meantime, taking the time to understand where her minority students come from would make a world of a difference to them, and she even might learn a thing or two in the process if she allowed herself to.

MaiVue K. Xiong ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in political science and legal studies.