W
e all know, and
dread,
the
Fall
Career
Expo
put on by the University of
Michigan’s
Career
Center.
The ballroom in the Michigan
Union is always packed with
nervous
college
students
trying to get an internship
or a full-time position at one
of the 180 companies that
recruit on campus.
This year, I noticed that
many recruiters trumpeted
their
company’s
diverse
and
inclusive
workplace.
Awards
from
publications
like DiversityInc as well as
the Human Rights Campaign
were
proudly
displayed
at
various
booths,
and
recruiters were more than
willing to speak about the
gender mix at their firm and
how it compared to specific
competitors.
Beside displaying awards
and openly discussing their
efforts to promote diversity,
many
organizations
have
begun to specifically recruit
diverse
talent.
Through
accelerated
internship
recruitment (that can start
as early as freshman year)
and
mentorship
programs,
companies are making an
effort to hire more women,
more racial minorities and
more
LGBT
individuals
directly from universities.
As I passed through the
dozens of firms advertising
these programs, I wondered
whether or not they were
just for show. I thought that
maybe they were a way to
make
the
company
more
appealing to undergraduates.
Trumpeting
their
firm’s
diversity and inclusiveness
would allow recruiters to rein
in the very best talent that the
University of Michigan has
to offer, as everyone ideally
wants to work in an inclusive
and
supportive
workplace.
I would later find out that
there is actually a compelling
business case for diversity.
In one of my courses on
human behavior, I learned
that
diversity
in
groups
promotes
heightened
organizational performance
and
success.
Academics
emphasize
the
enhanced
creativity
and
originality
groups are able to achieve
with more diverse members.
When you put people together
with
varying
backgrounds
and
experiences,
the
performance
of
the
team
surpasses that of a team with
members of relatively similar
backgrounds. Diverse teams
simply have more tools at their
disposal to solve the problems
the organization faces. Better
performing teams yield a
better performing company.
LeanIn.Org and McKinsey
& Company recently stated in
their Women in the Workplace
2017 report that “diversity
leads to stronger business
results.” With this, it’s clear
to see why companies are
tirelessly
recruiting
more
women,
along
with
other
underrepresented identities.
After
realizing
that
diversity promotes a certain
competitive
advantage,
organizations have started
to set “gender targets” along
with
various
“minority
targets.” These targets call
for
a
specific
percentage
of women or minorities to
work at certain levels within
the firm, whether it is at the
entry-level or in the C-suite.
The Women in the Workplace
report also discussed how
companies who use these
targets have faced staunch
disapproval from employees,
largely
white
men,
who
believe
that
merit-based
hiring
and
promotion
practices should be the norm.
Despite
their
objections,
companies
have
learned
to
successfully
implement
these targets (with employee
approval) by clearly making a
compelling case for diversity
to all employees.
The
promotion
of
diversity and inclusion in
organizations serves another
purpose:
Companies
seek
to ensure that new recruits,
particularly
women
and
underrepresented minorities,
feel safe and respected in
the workplace. In the wake
of the most recent election
and the onslaught of sexual
assault
allegations
from
the
“Weinstein
Effect,”
students are looking to work
in inclusive environments,
where
no
single
identity
dominates.
After learning why more and
more companies are recruiting
diverse talent, it became clear
my initial assumption— that
recruiting
diverse
talent
was
merely
a
marketing
technique—couldn’t be further
from the truth. The accelerated
internship
recruitment
and
mentorship programs were,
in fact, benefiting companies
and employees alike. They
were carefully thought out
and strategically implemented
to better their firms and the
environment of the people
they hire.
Similar to how affirmative
action
brings
different
perspectives to universities,
diversity-based recruitment
programs help bring different
perspectives to organizations.
These different perspectives
are imperative for companies
to compete and to remain
relevant in the ever-changing
marketplace.
Promoting
diversity and inclusivity in
organizations isn’t just the
right thing to do; it may also
be the best way to foster
success.
Students that are ineligible
to take advantage of these
programs may feel that they
are unfair and borderline
discriminatory,
but
I
believe that they serve a
distinct
business
purpose.
I also believe this trend of
recruiting diverse talent can
teach everyone an important
lesson.
Companies
are
recruiting
diverse
talent
because
they
are
looking
for
unique
candidates
—
candidates
with
different
perspectives.
Anybody,
regardless of their gender or race,
can differentiate themselves by
possessing a unique set of skills and
experiences and thus, possessing a
different perspective.
A
friend asked me last
night what parts of the
University of Michigan
experience I felt I missed
out on.
I said that I didn’t
feel like there are any
parts I’ve missed out on
because Michigan has
simply become my life.
I have arrived at a place
where I do not need
to be doing anything
specific to feel like I
am doing the Michigan
experience.
Whatever
events,
lectures
and
concerts occurred, I was either
there or not. And if I wasn’t,
I was somewhere else, doing
something different — bowling,
eating Bruegger’s, sitting in
my room, napping, sitting in a
gloriously unoccupied UMMA
because everyone else was at
this thing that I wasn’t at which
meant I had a lot of space to
really get into my homework/
Netflix/chat with a longtime
friend from home, etc. — and that
counts just as much as anything
else towards taking part in “The
Michigan Experience.”
I was abroad in Paris during
this past semester, and yet I felt
really close to my friends from
home and from Michigan. Why?
Because no matter where I am,
no matter what I am doing, the
friends and family that mean
something to me stay in my life,
they stay in the spirit of my mind.
In fact, getting away from
those friends actually increased
my understanding of how much
they mean to me. By not being
with them, I got to think about
who I think about, and who I
don’t care about at all! By gaining
distance from my roots and my
normal everyday routine, I could
identify the parts of that routine
that are great and impactful, as
well as those moments I spend
my life inactively or passively,
not deliberately defining my
days for myself. I began to see
that I spend a lot of time, for
example, holed up in my room
or in relationships that do not
actually make me feel good. I
spend time both closed off from
the world and not letting new
things in, such that nothing can
actually change. Bad moods
persist and exacerbate when
I do not let in new material to
help change my perspective and
how I understand what’s going
on. Coming back to Michigan,
I can now make
the
necessary
edits for myself to
ensure my time is
spent openly and
collaboratively.
And that’s such
a beautiful thing.
That no matter
where you are —
in
an
airplane,
stuck in traffic,
lying
in
bed,
sitting in an exam
— you are always experiencing.
You are always breathing, you
are always with yourself, inside
your mind and your body. You
can always make the world a
little bit more your own. Wow!
What an existential delight that
really can be, if we take full
advantage.
The whole concept of “missing
out on something” relies on
norms and understandings of
“what to do” that are created by
other people, defined before I
even showed up by the patterns
and habits of people I never
even met. It presupposes that
in order to not “miss out,” you
can do X, Y, Z, A, B, C, check,
check, check, and then you
come out the other side and
you have arrived at a place of
completion, of closure, as if you
were in a supermarket getting
all the necessary ingredients
for holiday eggnog. What a
brittle way of experiencing life
because it doesn’t allow for
customization, it doesn’t allow
for your individual take on
things to shine through. Life is
more than a big jar of eggnog!
An example: The other day,
my brother and I were walking
around SoHo in Manhattan and
we came across the Bathing Ape
store. Bathing Ape (Bape for
short), for fashion outsiders, is
an overpriced company that sells
clothes. Outside the store, there
was a huge line, and my brother
and I were really shocked that
someone would wait in line for
hours just to spend tons of money
on a piece of clothing.
“What’d you do today, your big
day out in the Big Apple?” “Oh,
honey, it was terrific. I stood in
line, in the cold and rain, and
everyone else in line was on their
phone just like me, idly passing
the time until we got in the
store. Then, finally, I got in, and
I bought this diamond-studded
mink jacket for a million dollars!
And it’s Bathing Ape! Bape,
honey!”
Why were these people in
line? Because they’ve grown to
believe that these clothes matter,
that they are worth hours of their
time and money. The significance
of the clothes comes from its
status as a big-time brand worn
by big-time people. These big-
time people define meaning for
the smaller-time people waiting
in line.
It’s tragic that non-famous
people endow famous people
who are being paid by famous
companies with a power to define
what it means to look, feel and
smell good because you don’t need
to buy any particular thing to look
good. Be comfortable, be naked,
be yourself. Know yourself. Hide
nothing from yourself. Define
goodness
and
prettiness
for
yourself, get to know what turns
you on and gets you jazzed. And
then do it for yourself because you
are who you are with all the time.
In order for this to be a beautiful,
beautiful thing, which it can so
easily be, you have to accept that
you can only be in one place. To
understand that oneness of yours
makes whatever you are doing,
whether or not that thing is on the
prescribed “list of cool things,” a
layered and buzzing opportunity
to be rich, full and rewarding.
There is no missing out because
you are always there. And you are
enough. You are everything you
need you to be.
Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4A — Wednesday, January 10, 2018
DAYTON HARE
Managing Editor
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
tothedaily@michigandaily.com
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890.
ALEXA ST. JOHN
Editor in Chief
ANU ROY-CHAUDHURY AND
ASHLEY ZHANG
Editorial Page Editors
Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s Editorial Board.
All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
ERIK NESLER | COLUMN
Carolyn Ayaub
Megan Burns
Samantha Goldstein
Emily Huhman
Jeremy Kaplan
Sarah Khan
Max Lubell
Lucas Maiman
Madeline Nowicki
Anna Polumbo-Levy
Jason Rowland
Anu Roy-Chaudhury
Ali Safawi
Sarah Salman
Kevin Sweitzer
Rebecca Tarnopol
Stephanie Trierweiler
Ashley Zhang
Realise the benefits of diverse recruiting
ISAIAH ZEAVIN-MOSS | COLUMN
Bape killed the moment
Erik Nesler can be reached at
egnesler@umich.edu.
JOIN OUR EDITORIAL BOARD
Our Editorial Board meets Mondays and Wednesdays 7:15-8:45 PM at
our newsroom at 420 Maynard Street. All are welcome to come discuss
national, state and campus affairs.
ISAIAH
ZEAVIN-MOSS
MICHELLE SHENG | CONTACT MICHELLE AT SHENGMI@UMICH.EDU
Diverse teams
simply have more
tools at their
disposal to solve
the problems that
the organization
faces
Isaiah Zeavin-Moss can be reached
at izeavinm@umich.edu.
I
don’t blame my parents.
I don’t look down upon
them for their apathy. I
definitely don’t consider them
to be ignorant or anything
less than intelligent. They
were new to this country, to
the language, to the quirks
and they had a family to
feed. I don’t blame them for
not knowing the first thing
about
American
politics.
Consequently, I got to figure
out who I was politically by
myself. My party identity
wasn’t
handed
down
like
the necklace that’s given to
new brides generation after
generation
in
my
family.
My political leanings were
organic because even as an
eight-year-old
kid,
I
was
attracted
to
the
guiding
message of one of the parties
more than the other. Yes,
you did, in fact, read that
correctly — I was eight years
old when I first got involved
in American politics. I made
“John Kerry for President”
buttons at an event at my
school.
What attracted me then
and continues to drive my
liberalism to this day was the
inclusivity of that campaign’s
rhetoric. As a kid whose first
language
wasn’t
English
and who was often picked
on for bringing Indian food
for lunch, all I wanted was
to fit in. As I grew up, I felt
that the Democratic Party
granted that wish — I felt like
I could belong. But, when I
look at my party today, I can’t
help but think if I was an
eight-year-old in 2018, would
I be making buttons for the
Democratic Party?
At the most inopportune
time, it seems my party —
the party I’ve worked for,
donated to, even worshipped
to some extent — has decided
that they want to follow a
path that closes doors rather
than opens them. Even a
cursory glance at the liberal
corners
of
social
media
shows a civil war within
the party. When I worked
for the Democratic National
Convention
Committee
in
the summer of 2016, one of
the guiding themes of the
whole experience was that
what made it so hard to put
on a Democratic convention,
as opposed to a Republican
one, was the diversity in
the party. From unions to
minority and ethnic groups,
the convention was supposed
to be a celebration of the
inclusivity that drew this kid
looking to belong in the first
place. But that utopia began
to whittle away right in front
of my eyes as on each night
of the convention, different
factions of the party decided
to voice their displeasure. I
sensed then that my party
was at a tipping point.
While this was going on,
the Republican Party adopted
one of their least inclusive
platforms
yet,
promising
walls and bans while helping
only a select few at the top of
the economic ladder. I went
to high school in one of the
most conservative townships
in my state; in a 2008 mock
election at my middle school,
John McCain won 75 percent
of the vote. I have friends
who hold real conservative
principles and whose families
have
voted
exclusively
Republican
for
generation
upon
generation.
These
people understand that the
Republican Party is no longer
the conservative party they
grew up attracted to. They
are honestly trying to find it
within themselves to be the
first in their families to cast
ballots for Democrats, only to
be told by people on Twitter
and on their campuses that we
don’t want their membership
and they are not progressive
enough to be Democrats.
I don’t know when exactly
it happened, but somewhere
along the way if you wanted
to be a real Democrat it
wasn’t enough to want a
public
option
for
health
insurance or to make college
more affordable; suddenly,
if you didn’t believe in full-
blown single payer or free
college for everyone, your
liberal card was taken from
you. Furthermore, if you are
a person of faith who believes
that life starts at conception,
then you can forget about
it. We don’t want you. As a
result, my friends, who were
looking to belong just as I
once did, were destined to a
life as political nomads.
In a time when one party
has closed its doors and
actively
passes
legislation
that either hurts the majority
or only helps the minority,
my party should have stood
up. My party should have
said enough is enough. They
should exclaim, “it doesn’t
matter
whether
you’re
Black or white, rich or poor,
young, old, if you’re liberal or
conservative or somewhere in
between, you can be a member
of this Democratic Party!”
It’s not too late. My party can
still be the party I grew up
idolizing. My party can be the
one that’s for helping people,
and I couldn’t care less if you
believe in a 50 percent top tax
rate or one at 30 percent.
My Democratic party
RISHABH KEWALRAMANI | COLUMN
These big-time
people define
meaning for the
smaller-time
people
Rishabh Kewalramani can be
reached at rkew@umich.edu.