Joe Ramlet, opinions editor

At a meeting of the University of Minnesota Board of Regents on Oct. 13, Vice Chair Steve Sviggum raised an appalling question. While discussing how to counter declining enrollment at the university’s campus in Morris — about a two-and-a-half hour drive west from Minneapolis — he asked if it is “possible that at Morris [they]’ve become too diverse.” He continued to explain that he received two letters from friends whose children aren’t going to attend Morris because it is “too diverse” and they “didn’t feel comfortable there.”

According to institutional research by UMN Morris, only 56.3% of the student population enrolled in fall 2021 was white. Indigenous students composed an additional 28.0%, with other groups making up the rest — including 4.0% Latinx, 3.3% Black and 2.3% Asian. To students at Augsburg (with 58% students of color and 51% first-generation students), that probably doesn’t sound like all that much diversity, but it’s in stark contrast to the overall population of Morris and most of rural Minnesota. Given this, many will be quick to excuse Sviggum’s inquiries, including his own back-handed apology for “some feel[ing] the question might be offensive.” Hey, Steve: apologizing that others “feel” offended fails to acknowledge the harm done and isn’t actually an apology at all.

It would be easy to focus on the specific (non-)merits of Sviggum’s argument or attack his personality — like how a former high school teacher and university professor should know that correlation does not equal causation, or that a former decorated Republican state representative should act with decorum, or even that he’s endured two scandals over conflicts of interest concerning his membership on the Board of Regents. But instead, I’d rather address and refute the basis of his suggestion altogether.

Latinx, Southeast Asian and African immigration to the agricultural and industrial centers in Greater Minnesota is the driving — and sometimes only — force behind community development and population growth. Census data show Stevens County, home to Morris, has lost 14.6% of its population since 1980. But despite a 4.1% decline of white residents in the last decade, the overall population actually grew ever so slightly — signaling in-migration of people of color. Other rural communities — Worthington, Austin and Willmar, to name a few — share similar success stories for immigrant groups. Immigrants — and their accompanying diversity — are the heroes of rural Minnesota. This new wave of migration tells a different story than that of centuries past. Instead of white ancestors traveling from Europe to “settle the frontier” — in actuality, colonizing the existing Indigenous peoples — today’s immigrants are saving industries in desperate need of help and revitalizing the communities they call home.

This trend is mirrored by UMN Morris; just over half of the state’s population lives in the Twin Cities and their suburbs, but students from these seven counties make up about 40% of the university. Admittedly, it’s not a perfect comparison, but those choosing to leave urban life behind should be commended — if they all chose to attend, for example, the UMN Twin Cities campus, Morris would be operating at a loss much greater than it is currently.

Despite backwards perspectives — like Sviggum’s — people of color and marginalized backgrounds are choosing to live, work and go to school in traditionally white, Christian, rural communities. These places are booming largely because of their presence and are all the better for it. And if they want to continue to prosper, much less exist, leaders like Sviggum should be finding ways to attract and include diversity instead of scaring it off.