Should I submit this Diversity Statement? As a white guy who travels Forum

[03152016]

The thing that bugs me about all of these posts where white guys are asking if they should write a diversity statement is because they have benefited from their gender and race in this society that we live in for their whole lives -- and now, at one of the very few moments where their gender and race do not serve them -- they want to benefit from that diversity statement, too. It is really quite appalling.

lol uh
i'll just go ahead and tell u ur wrong here
diversity in the sense it's being used here (law school diversity statements) isn't just about race or sex
there r plenty of white guys who can write compelling diversity statements actually
(just not this guy)

[Mack.Hambleton]

Just be sure to attach a picture of yourself surrounded by a dozen or so little kids in India and you should be all set

the darker the better

[Hand]

Just be sure to attach a picture of yourself surrounded by a dozen or so little kids in India and you should be all set

the darker the better

Throw in a couple of adults just for kicks

[carmensandiego]

Just be sure to attach a picture of yourself surrounded by a dozen or so little kids in India and you should be all set

the darker the better

Throw in a couple of adults just for kicks

You guys are going to hell.

[proctor_right_in_the]

Post removed.

[cheesy143]

Just imagine an admissions officer reading a DS of someone with a disability or someone raised in poverty and then reading this

[BVest]

"Not only am a I white guy, but I am a white guy who is rich enough to travel the world. TALK about diversity!"

Well to be fair, I've traveled exclusively on money I've made while working summer and part time jobs [that I didn't then have to save to spend on undergrad or law school]

Just to be clear, I'm not criticizing you for having been well-supported by UMC parents who could afford to do so. I was once in your position and I too had the luxury of spending money I made at high school and undergrad summer and on-campus jobs for stuff other than tuition, food, and rent. I just wanted to point out that just because you earned the specific money that you spent to travel doesn't mean you weren't "rich enough to travel the world" as the other poster put it.

As far as what you've written, there's nothing there that can't be taken care of either in your PS or on your resume.

[jbagelboy]

I didn't submit any diversity statements, although I could have conjured some distinct factors from my past and generated some essay content if I really wanted to. I feel like for people like you (and me), the personal statement will suffice to express what you've written here, and it doesn't merit or necessitate an additional essay. That being said, if you already have the perfect PS and it doesn't discuss cultural fluency or extensive international travel at all, then sure, no true harm in showing this side of yourself. If a lot of this information can't be legitimately severed from the content of your personal statement, then its duplicative and reaching in a way that would make it neutral at best and at worse an extra opportunity for unforced errors while displaying what many would consider problematic tone deafness (advantages that stem from privileged upbringing/family support =\= adversity or diversity -- not that all div statements need to reflect adversity, but its much more challenging to make it worthwhile otherwise)

[BigZuck]

Suggesting or telling the OP that it is ok to submit this statement in any form is pretty terrible advice IMO

Schools don't care about things like personal statements (people now will start screaming Yale and Berkeley at me but whatever). This isn't even a personal statement. It won't make any positive difference. Could it make a negative difference because it's a diversity statement about a white guy traveling? It probably won't make any difference at all but given that there is absolutely zero upside it doesn't make sense to mess with any potential downside.

I'm confident that this is the right answer

[UnicornHunter]

Just make your actual personal statement about the work you're doing with operation eyesight. That's cool, and worthy of a personal statement.