Diversity in learning should be encouraged

Outgoing. Ambitious. Accepting.

Those are the words most often used to describe the typical student at the high school ranked top in the state for diversity, Brien McMahon High School in Norwalk. “The school is so diverse, one learns how to interact with people from different backgrounds,” a graduate wrote in an online review.

Study after study shows diversity is good. When we surround ourselves with people who are different from us, we perform better, not only in school, but at our jobs.

Firms with women at the top are $44 million more valuable on average, according to a study of Standard and Poor’s top 1,500 companies. Diverse companies in the hospitality industry post 29 percent higher average quarterly net profits than homogenous ones.

The National Academy of Sciences found ethnically diverse groups of Wall Street traders set prices more accurately. Scientific papers produced by diverse academic research groups are of higher quality. Diversity has been shown to boost creativity. It also engenders loyalty, since people who work for diverse firms are more apt to feel valued and respected.

It’s no mystery why this is so. Social scientists say we work harder and prepare more thoroughly when working with people who are different because we anticipate tougher questions and greater challenges to our points of view.

In short, there is no downside. Nonetheless, earlier this month President Donald Trump rescinded Obama-era guidelines permitting university officials to consider race in admission decisions.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy called it “yet another attack on civil rights and human decency from the Trump administration,” and said it would have “a real impact on the ability of deserving students to access a quality education.”

Academic leaders say the move signals a rollback to the policy set during President George W. Bush’s administration, which strongly encouraged the use of race-neutral methods.

Fortunately, most Connecticut universities pledge to continue to build diverse student populations for all the benefits they provide. We strongly support and encourage their efforts.

Officials at the University of Connecticut, Fairfield University, Wesleyan University and Sacred Heart University all say they plan to continue following the policies guided by Supreme Court rulings that allow schools to use racial diversity as a factor in admissions.

Stella Flores, associate professor of higher education at New York University, predicts the rollback will result mostly in “misinformation and inaccurate communication to colleges and universities on what is still permissible under law.”

However, public schools may have to soften their affirmative action policies to protect their federal funding under Trump, according to Gary Rose, a political science professor at Sacred Heart University.

Diversity — of gender, ethnicity, and religion — isn’t some politically correct buzzword. It’s a foundation on which to build more creative, productive, successful lives.

With a new Supreme Court justice waiting in the wings, we owe it to all students to protect America’s classrooms and campuses from political attacks on diversity policies.

Earlier this month President Donald Trump rescinded Obama-era guidelines permitting university officials to consider race in admission decisions.