What Smith Students Don’t Get About Diversity; Time, 5/13/14

Dawn Ginnetti, Time; What Smith Students Don’t Get About Diversity:

"It was a hot issue on campus. I began to have a dialog with other students, professors and staff on campus. Some supported Lagarde as our speaker, while others opposed her. Over the next few months I began to think about Lagarde as an individual and not as the organization that she represents. I also began to think about Smith and the ideas the college and student body represent. We support and believe in the boundless potential of all women. We recognize that we are not all alike, and we find strength in our diversity. We honor the sacrifices of the women who came before us. We honor the commitment and strength of women doing things that have never been done before—women like Lagarde, the first female director of the IMF.

I was disappointed when I found out Monday that Lagarde had withdrawn as our commencement speaker. Smith has opened up a world of possibilities to me that I had never dared to dream of before I came here. That being said, we students sometimes neglect to think of diversity in a larger sense. Diversity of thought is equally important. As an educated woman, I should be willing to hear differing views and treat them with the same respect and thoughtfulness that I would want from those whose views I oppose."