STAFF EDITORIAL: Making life a little easier

We welcome the UMC's plan to have the University send official notices home in students' native languages. But thanks to an idea being advanced by the United Minorities Council, that may soon change. UMC leaders have begun consultation with University officials on a program to send official documents home in languages other than English. This would potentially benefit hundreds of households where English is not spoken or is not the primary language used. In the most recent admissions cycle, more than 10 percent of the students accepted to Penn were from outside the United States. Additionally, many parents of students who are U.S. citizens could benefit from information distributed in their native languages. With that in mind, we congratulate the UMC on an initiative that better engages the families of minority students with the University. This need is particularly necessary given Penn's high international population -- and particularly acute in light of the University's difficulties with minority recruitment and retention. Granted, many technicalities need to be addressed. Which languages documents will be published in, which documents will be translated and how the program will be funded all remain on the agenda. But the goal -- and the means of meeting it -- should be applauded. In some ways, it is almost surprising that this idea never surfaced until now. Many people at the University -- and in society at large -- are used to the world working in a certain way. At some point, we forget that not everyone sees the same thing on a sheet of paper. Apart from its own merits, the UMC's proposal gives us a moment to reflect on this fact. The University should regard this as an opportunity to make being in the Penn community still easier for those from a wide spectrum of backgrounds.