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Matthew Bromberg states the case for faculty diversity based on the benefits to both black and white students. He is writing specifically about diversity at Harvard University.

The thrust for faculty diversity is a very simple one, and intuitively very appealing. At its core is the notion that in order to have a truly rich educational experience, students should be exposed to a variety of viewpoints, and the only way to achieve this is to make sure there are people of varied experiences at the school. People of different ethnic and social backgrounds look at the world in very different ways, and only when all are represented can one be confident that the full panoply of ideas is being heard.

The benefits of diversity also accrue in other ways. For students from minority groups, minority professors often act as role models, providing moral support, mentoring, and networking that white students take for granted but from which minorities have rarely benefited. . . .

Having people of color up at the lectern is seen as having distinct benefits to white students as well. 'I think it's important that white students see black people doing more than just cleaning up after them in the cafeteria,' notes Carmia Caesar, a second-year student at the school. Professor Ogletree [a member of the Harvard faculty] adds, 'There is a large community that would benefit from diverse points of view and that community is not just black women or black people. I think that both seeing and hearing from someone of different perspectives will enrich the environment here at Harvard and will make it more intellectually challenging than it is today.'

Reference: From "Harvard Law School's War Over Faculty Diversity" by Matthew S. Bromberg, in The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, Autumn, 1993, p. 77-78. Brackets added.