Our advice would be to seek empirical studies on your own university make-up. That is,
see what resources you can find on the Internet, in your library and various other publications which would give you insight into your local community. You might check the sociology department on your campus to find out if there have been studies on your local community. Compare that to the research done on a national basis. Then begin to think through and discuss among yourselves how that information can help guide you in your conversations with your colleagues.