Just a few minutes before I sat down to write this column, the Dean of Arts and Sciences at UNC-Wilmington sent the following note:

“Colleagues: The Chancellor and Provost are making a special point at Deans’ Council and Administrative Cabinet of asking us what’s going on in the area of diversity. Whenever there are activities or achievements in your units that support the university's diversity goal, I would appreciate your passing them along to me so I’ll have some good stuff to report at these meetings. Thanks, David.”

Naturally, as a columnist who writes almost exclusively on diversity issues, I’m in a great position to pass along news and information relating to the university’s efforts to fulfill its commitment to diversity. One story that comes to mind involves the Women’s Resource Center (WRC) – a unit that may well epitomize the university’s commitment to diversity in higher education.

Last April, our College Republican (CR) chapter was having a Global Cooling Day, which, among other things, sought to make fun of Al Gore – an innocent activity given the former Vice President’s outstanding sense of humor. It was a fun day despite the fact that a) it was unseasonably cold, and b) some representatives from the WRC had a table set up not far from where our CR table was located.

When one of our CR officers saw some feminists from the WRC putting condoms on cucumbers, he decided to approach them to ask a few questions. Since he was single I feared he would ask the obviously sexually frustrated ladies for a date, perhaps simultaneously. But, I was wrong. He acted like a real gentleman, even though he’s a registered Republican.

In a very nice manner, our CR officer alerted the ladies to the fact that some grade school children (who were visiting UNCW) were standing nearby watching the ladies help the cucumbers prepare to engage in safe sexual intercourse. The ladies responded flippantly saying that the kids had no idea what they were doing at their table and that the kids didn’t have to look at the WRC table anyway.

For a second I thought the student feminists had a point. After all, it could be argued that even they didn’t know what they were doing since everyone knows a cucumber can’t get anyone pregnant or pass on a sexually transmitted disease. But there was one little problem: The children were pointing at the feminists and laughing.

Of course, I’m not criticizing the school children. I point at feminists and laugh every now and then, too. Nor am I criticizing the feminists. After all, they are really demonstrating that the WRC has finally committed itself to a diversity of ideas at UNCW. Let me explain. Continued...