The concept of diversity has come a long way in U.S. higher education, and its impact has been far reaching. Over the last three and a half decades, diversity and its related interventions have evolved to encompass a broad set of purposes, issues, and initiatives on college campuses. The earliest initiatives to increase minority access on predominantly white campuses, and later to enhance gender equity, were prompted by desegregation mandates as well as social justice concerns grounded in the democratic principles of equal opportunity and equality. Although the issue of equitable access remains of paramount interest, since the mid-1980s concerns about the persistence and academic success of underrepresented students of color have become another important thrust of diversity efforts in higher education. Additionally, addressing ongoing incidents of racial and ethnic hostility directed toward students of color and the evolution of what historian Lawrence Levine (1996, 171) termed "a more eclectic, open, culturally diverse, and relevant curriculum" have also become important concerns of a rapidly expanding diversity agenda. These trends do not center only on race and ethnicity; they also encompass other high-stakes categories, such as gender, class, sexual orientation, and disability.