When I entered Penn State as a first-year student, there was not a doubt in my mind that I wanted to major in journalism.

I couldn't wait to take college-level journalism classes, and I was disheartened by the amount of general education requirements I would have to take. I thought it would cut into precious journalism time.

I signed up for an introductory women's studies course out of mild interest. I probably wouldn't have taken it if it hadn't fulfilled my diversity requirement.

Then something happened that I never anticipated.

Thanks to good ol' gen ed, I ended up falling in love with the class, and eventually the field.

Now, I'm double majoring in journalism and women's studies, and I'm personally and professionally better off than I would have been with only my original major.

And now I'm concerned that the general education requirement I once scorned but am now so grateful for could be unintentionally undermined.

As a result of a Dec. 5 Faculty Senate meeting, a group of concerned students is working with the Senate to create a course that deals with the history of racism in America.

So far, so good.

Many students need to be better educated about the history of race relations in the United States and the dangers of ethnocentrism. The series of racially motivated incidents that have rocked this campus throughout the past several semesters clearly show that we have a long way to go before achieving a hate- and ignorance-free campus.

The problem for me is that the course could replace the current diversity requirement for all students. The Faculty Senate is considering adding the course in lieu of the current diversity requirement so the number of required credits would remain the same.

While I wholeheartedly support the goal of educating students about race issues, I hope we can find a way to achieve this without replacing the current diversity requirement.

Doing so would unintentionally undermine the purpose of the requirement, which according to the handbook on general education in the curriculum, is designed to "help students develop the intercultural and international competence required to function effectively in a pluralistic society and an ever-increasing interdependent international community."

Would a course on racism encompass these ideals? Certainly. But would it alone satisfy each student's need for diversity education?

Simply put, no. Diversity is not just an issue about skin color. Humans are diverse because of race, ethnicity, nationality, class, age, gender, ability, sexual orientation, religion and so on.

To single out one small element in this spectrum — racial minorities in America — and elevate it above all others is unfair to scholarship on all other forms of diversity at this university.

Certainly, for many people in the Penn State community — perhaps even a majority — racism in America is the most pressing diversity issue.

Under the current requirements, students are free to explore this issue through diversity electives.

However, for others, nonracial diversity issues are at the top of their personal agenda. A student who feels well-versed in issues of race may feel completely clueless about eastern religions, for example, and hope to use the diversity requirement to begin to learn about a subject new to them.

Or suppose a student is most concerned about the series of rapes and sexual assaults that were reported on campus last semester. Perhaps Administration of Justice/Women's Studies 423 (Rape and Sexual Violence) is most appropriate for him or her.

Through the university's current diversity-requirement policy, students can choose from — appropriately enough — a diverse set of classes, which includes, to name a few, American Studies 457 (Ethnic America); African and African American Studies 146 (Life of Martin Luther King Jr.); Art History 120 (Survey of Eastern Art); German 143 (The Culture of Stalinism and Nazism); and History 455 (Lesbian and Gay History).

And the list goes on. There are literally hundreds of other courses that can improve a student's international and intercultural awareness while fulfilling the diversity requirement.

We are all so fortunate to attend a university large enough and diverse enough to offer so many choices.

Replacing the current smorgasbord of courses that can fulfill the diversity requirement with a mandatory class on racism in America could ironically undermine the goal of making thought and scholarship more diverse on this campus.

It could discourage the pursuit of all but one narrow, albeit extremely important, aspect of diversity at Penn State.

I hope that students join me in supporting improved awareness of racism in America — an awareness that would benefit each of us.

I hope the course is developed and offered, and I hope its enrollment is healthy. I'd sign up for it.

At the same time, however, I hope there is public support for leaving the diversity requirement as it is, so that students may select courses that suit their needs and interests.

Alternatively, because there is a concern that some courses listed as diversity courses aren't as effective as they should be, perhaps the Senate, along with student groups, could create a mandatory course with information on a plurality of diversity issues.

Only then can the diversity requirement live up to its ideals.