One Box Isn't Enough

Mixed-race advocates launch effort to enforce better racial data collection

from the MAVIN Foundation

The "One Box Isn't Enough" effort was kicked-off on February 5 at the West Coast Mixed Race Summit held at Stanford University. "One Box Isn't Enough" will address the Department of Education failure to implement guidelines allowing multiracial students to mark one or more boxes on forms requesting race and ethnicity.

The "One Box Isn't Enough" effort will seek to generate 10,000 signed comment cards to submit to the Department of Education. This will be a grass roots effort which will allow individuals to contribute to meaningful change. An information packet including printable comment cards will be sent to students, community organizers and others in the mixed-race community. Individuals are encouraged to generate as many signatures as possible, especially by working though multiracial campus organizations and clubs.

In 1997 the Federal Office of Management and Budget released guidelines allowing individuals to mark one or more race on forms requesting race and ethnicity. The Department of Education has not yet implemented these guidelines, despite a January of 2003 deadline. Many colleges and universities will not make changes to their data collection methods until the Department of Education releases guidelines.

The Department of Education standards affect over 76 million students, including over 2.5 million students of mixed race who are currently forced to identify inappropriately. Accurate data collection allows universities to obtain a clear picture of student diversity which is necessary to evaluate and fund many program needs. It is important that the growing population of multiracial students have the right to properly identify themselves.

"One Box Isn't Enough" is an effort of MAVIN Foundation's Campus Awareness and Compliance Initiative, with Level Playing Field Institute, and in partnership with the Association of MultiEthnic Americans and the Hapa Issues Forum.

MAVIN Foundation is a 500(c)3 nonprofit organization that celebrates innovative projects that celebrate and advocate for mixed race people and families. In cities like Seattle, Sacramento, and San Antonio nearly one in six babies born is multiracial. MAVIN's innovative projects provide a unique forum to increase awareness of the changing face of our multiracial society. For more information, please visit their website.