As other articles in this issue point out, large and growing segments of the US population are not being adequately prepared, recruited, or retained in educational pathways leading to careers in the ocean science workforce. While rates of participation by underrepresented minorities (URMs) have increased at the undergraduate level (Figure 1; Lettrich, 2014), the numbers are so low that even substantial percent increases are likely to produce barely noticeable increases in the numbers of individuals entering graduate programs and the ocean science community. In this paper, as former and current faculty at one of the nation’s historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), we discuss key issues related to underrepresentation in the ocean sciences and challenge our community to go beyond talking about diversity. 

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