When Syracuse University named Donald Newhouse as the 2016 commencement speaker, a message that spans several university administrations was reiterated: A successful professional is characterized as a white man in the media industry.

In the past 50 years, only five commencement speakers have been racial minorities. Of the more than 100 speakers listed in the university archives since 1893, only 11 are women. Since 1966, 20 of the speakers have been associated with writing or communications fields.

The failure to acknowledge these alarming trends is as disturbing as it is disrespectful considering the announcement comes days after the release of a report by the Chancellor’s Workgroup on Diversity and Inclusion which outlines ways in which the administration can sustain a more inclusive campus for a diverse student body.

And when a few dozen names are presented to the administration by student marshals from various colleges, it is difficult to grasp the reasoning behind a tone-deaf selection that reflects a lack of diversity in profession, gender and race. This dynamic is further alienating when this year’s choice was a man whose name already brands a college on campus.

That is not to say that Donald Newhouse will not give an impactful speech or that SU’s communications school is not something to be proud of. But systematically choosing individuals who are not representative or even relevant to the greater student body perpetuates a Newhouse-centric narrative that overlooks the successes and prestige of SU’s other schools.

Although the choice is particularly frustrating at a time when the administration is attempting to foster a campus climate that upholds diversity and inclusion in its decision-making processes, this responsibility — or blame — does not lie with one chancellor or administration. These lapses in diversity have been proven through decades-old data to be an institutional problem in which each member involved in the final selection process has failed to assess the implications within the context of commencement history.

It is understandable that the university has to make a selection that functions to keep alumni and those who invest money into the institution satisfied. But when a niche keynote speaker who embodies privileges many students do not have is chosen, the administration is polarizing the graduating body in what is intended to be one of most unifying moments of a student’s time at Syracuse University.