In a study released by the Vice President of Academic Affairs Don Lehman’s office, 28 percent of new faculty hires are faculty of color, marking a 10-percent jump over the past five years. This is good news for the University, although more improvement in this area is needed.

According to the Recruitment and Retention of Women Faculty and Faculty of Color Report, GW has 14.2 percent more full-time minority faculty members than it did in 2000-01. The October 2000 to September 2001 hiring season saw the number of faculty of color hired increase by 146 percent, translating to 19 more minorities in faculty positions.

Any move toward increasing the diversity of GW’s faculty serves to benefit the image of the University and, more importantly, the quality of education for the students.

Obstacles like a scant pool of qualified applicants do stand in the way of hiring diverse professors, especially when GW competes with first-tier schools who can offer more attractive compensation. But it is encouraging to see that a diverse faculty is part of GW’s planned ascension into the ranks of the nation’s elite schools.