Diversity, despite what we say, disturbs us. We debate linguistic rights, the need for an official language, and educational policies for language minority students. We believe in the rights of individuals, including the right to one’s own language, yet we still sponsor a single common language, monolingual and standard, for full participation and communication in both the academy and in U.S. society.

These conflicts are central to Diverse by Design, an institutional case study of an Hispanic-Serving Institution—in fact, the most ethnically diverse university in the midwest—situated within a metropolitan area shaped by immigration and migration. Christopher Schroeder examines the interactions of the institution and individuals, highlighting a cohort of Latino students enrolled in a special admissions program. He analyzes the ways that institutional language policies and literacy philosophies shape student experience within this institution, where ethnolinguistic diversity is framed as an educational obstacle to overcome rather than an intellectual opportunity to exploit.

Diverse by Design argues that linguistic ideologies are ever more critical within increasingly globalized societies. While diversity might disturb us, its challenges can be overcome through a more expansive sense of social identity, placing literacy and education at the forefront of debates about educational equity and human lives.