Editor,
I completely disagreed with the article in Tuesday's Daily Lobo about minority enrollment and UNM's faculty. Does the UNM Fact Book include the faculty of the mathematics and statistics department? Does it include the faculty of the foreign languages and literatures department? If not, then maybe it needs to be revised and edited to include all these faculty members. Both of these departments attract highly educated people from all over the world, and thus offer a rich and diverse pool of knowledge and experience to UNM students.
As an engineering student, I've had to take numerous math classes for my degree. My math teachers emigrated from all over the world, including Brazil, Russia, Costa Rica, Switzerland and Great Britain. These teachers have a genuine concern for their students, and they challenge me to sharpen my math skills - they are simply outstanding teachers.
Furthermore, my French 101 teacher was not even French - she was from the Czech Republic. Even though she was not French, her French was absolutely excellent, and she taught it very well. Therefore, I think it's quite possible for all UNM students to find a good mentor and role model among such a diverse group of professors, even if they are not from the same ethnicity.
We should not encourage segregation by grouping apples with apples and oranges with oranges, metaphorically speaking. I think UNM is doing a great job in diversifying its faculty.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Gerardo Saenz
UNM student
