The problem with diversity:

As far as I can tell from my stay thus far in Tembusu, diversity is one of the key features that the college prides itself in. I remember during a speech last sem, Prof C (or was it Prof K?), prided Tembusu for having the highest proportion of foreign students among all of NUS's student residences (as being one the many aspects of diversity).

But of course diversity isn't as simple as that. Implicit in our Tembusian idea of diversity is inclusiveness. There's always mention of how Tembusu is a great environment for students across different faculties to mingle. From my own guesses, the college doesn't seem to consider grades so much a factor in enrollment of its residents either. What this means is plainly anybody could be a part of the Tembusu community; one is free – welcomed even – to be his or her individualistic self in this domain. In the world of dreams and cotton candy, these aspects of Tembusu seem to paint an ideal picture: it's dynamic, diverse and democratic.



Now, as an undergraduate, it is my job to be quite suspicious of such a pleasant, idyllic representations of anything really, much less Tembusu. It is also my job to problematize anything that appears too fine and dandy. On the whole, diversity through inclusiveness presents one major problem: the sacrifice of discretion.

I admit that "discretion" can come in uglier, more loaded forms like "discrimination" and "exclusivity", but this is a problem that will, sooner or later, confront Tembusu at its open doors. The thing is its impossible to be completely fair and equal to everyone who lives in, or wants to live in Tembusu. The question is at what point will they (and by they I refer to the abstract administrative authority) say no? I'd like to stick around long enough to see the college refuse or reject someone. How much tolerance and mercy will there be for "bad apples" –  the criminal offenders, the amoral and the lawless? What happens when the capacity of the school cannot cater to its demand? The reality is that the college at some point will have to choose the kind of students it wants to keep, and that would be the beginnings of a threat to its pretty diversity.

Perhaps there isn't even a need to ask these questions on such a hypothetical level. There already are barriers to entry that contradicts Tembusu's stand of "diversity": The campus's stand against smoking; the costs of accommodation (which is significantly more than regular halls' and hostels'); the exclusion of exchange students from taking Tembusu modules, just to name the few I find immediately obvious.

Take the costs of accommodation. The issue is not just with the saturation of individuals who are from more affluent homes; there also seems to be a concentration of students with scholarships/ awards. This makes entry to Tembusu biased towards students with some form of economic advantage from one means of another. Granted that there are subsidies that are available to students who find the residential fees too much to bear, but from what I understand (and I may be wrong) this grant is only accessible to residents, meaning these students already have a place in Tembusu... so it doesn't really do anything to lower the barrier to entry into Tembusu, does it?

I also find it very strange that foreign exchange students are not offered Tembusu modules. Perhaps this is due to the administrative complications that might arise from opening this option, but I believe that this also goes against the grain of diversity. As a participant of these modules I would definitely appreciate the perspectives of non-local students, and what better way to access it than through our bountiful supply here on campus? Well, for now I'll just assume there is some rationale behind this move and let the matter rest.

However, that doesn't mean the problems that arise from this diversity ideal ends there. Looking internally, it would be fairly difficult to bond individuals of a varied population. I know that optimistically speaking, the standing hope is that there will be some synthesis of individuals' disparities (and I mean both academically and non-academically) that will produce new perspectives and some sense of hybridability in fields. Not only is it tricky feat to create an environment that will foster such interaction, it also may turn out wrong: Differences between people could also create friction (and not to be overly cynical) that may hinder cohesion, which Tembusu definitely lacks in at the moment. Of course this issue of poor intra-relations is not merely so simple, but I'll save that for next time.

In any case it's dinner now and I'm hungry. Until next time!