Campus Diversity: Implementing the Town Hall Approach for Racial and Cultural Understanding at a Predominantly White University

This paper uses students’ responses from the dialogues of a town hall meeting to examine the beliefs, attitudes, and knowledge about racial and cultural diversity at a mid-size, predominantly white university in Louisiana. The four major themes that emerged from this experience were: (1) perceptions about race, (2) stereotypical beliefs about cross-cultural interactions, (3) uncomfortable campus climate, and (4) disequilibria associated with prejudicial teaching by parents. Implications and recommendations for increasing positive cross-cultural interactions among members of the campus community are discussed.