'Diversity' In Name Only at UVA

Some of the students supporting this effort are hiding behind process arguments, claiming that students should have a bigger role in the selection of the commencement speaker. Currently, a committee of students and faculty members gives the university president a list of 10 speakers, from which he invites one. This process has been in place for years. No one complained about the selection process when author John Grisham, a well-known high-dollar Democratic fundraiser, was selected, or even after his speech, in which he hit on hot-button political issues such as the Vietnam War and global warming.

That a conservative judge does not fit within the definition of diversity on campus reveals how far we have to go to achieve diversity in the academy. Unfortunately, we have settled for descriptive diversity, such as race and sex, rather than reaching for intellectual diversity.

I hope that Judge Wilkinson takes the opportunity to address diversity in his commencement speech. This would help complete our education.