Color matters.

Visual distinctions, especially race, dictate first impressions and ultimately, the judgments we make about people on a day-to-day basis.

And, as a result of social images and upbringing, most people unconsciously favor whites.

No matter how many diversity classes they stuff in the catalog or token black students they place across admission pamphlets, the fact is that attending Iowa State does nothing but further these biases.

By relying on heritage days and tolerance preaching, the university fails to provide an environment that adequately challenges our socially determined inclinations about race.

Unconscious biases have been tested. Project Implicit (http://implicit.harvard.edu), a collection of online research studies conducted by numerous renowned universities, found that when forced to answer entirely based on reaction, even minorities naturally favored Caucasians.

Out of 600,000 rapid cognition tests completed in the year 2000, both white and black participants had an implicit preference for white faces and names.

The only way to counteract this phenomenon is to create an educational environment where diversity becomes routine.

A public state university should ultimately be serving the aspiring minds located within its borders. But programs to attain a larger minority population greatly increase the intellectual value of college for everyone who passes through the corridors. Graduates, having received an education amidst a visually varied student body, leave with less of a tendency to unjustly favor a certain race and an ability to better interact in the outside world.

In 2004, African Americans made up 2.8 percent of undergraduates at Iowa State while comprising only 2.2 percent of the total Iowa population. That shouldn’t be the goal.

The school must take it upon itself to actively pursue minorities with the intention of far exceeding state percentages and producing graduates that don’t recognize diversity, but expect it.

Considering our location, Iowa State can’t settle for affirmative action or scholarships offered after admission. They must go into big cities or racially concentrated areas throughout the nation to recruit strong, willing minority applicants.

Besides, declining enrollment numbers prove that the addition of more diverse students from beyond Iowa wouldn’t crowd out homegrown applications.

Finding a strong applicant base might also be easier than many might think.

About 40 percent of blacks age 18-24 attend college. However, 70 percent of them do so at schools where most students are minorities. By taking steps to attract these students, whether through generous scholarships, scientific prestige or most importantly, personal attention, Iowa State could open its eyes to the possibilities of an Ames education.

A large percentage, however, do choose minority-laden schools for comfort reasons. By increasing the minority population at Iowa State beyond that of many Midwest universities, we become less apt to discourage students that, like any incoming freshman, are apprehensive about entering such an unfamiliar environment.

For the actual logistics of the project, the university must look no further than its athletic program. NCAA coaches know the talent required for competitive Division I sports teams can’t be satisfied from within the current student or state population. They look to the nation at large and use multiple resources to choose who they think will best contribute to the team.

Academics needn’t be different. Admission officers should be going into the major metropolises and searching for students that would make quality additions to the campus. They might have to gamble on some, take failures alongside successes, but in the end it would produce a quality of student body unattainable from within the state bounds.

Race may be only one facet of diversity, but its visual nature lends itself to an immediate effect on the way we casually and unknowingly judge others.

The university can claim it is furthering tolerance through classes and other programs, but true effects will come from exposure to a greater number of minority peers.

Merely reflecting Iowa just isn’t enough.

– Chris Sigmund is a sophomore in economics and political science from Johnston. He is the online editor of the Daily.