DESPERATE to absolve the national guilt of prejudice and hate that has stained our past, the United States of today actively strives to welcome diversity in all its forms. The University mirrors this appreciation and respect for minorities with the multitude of minority organizations here, from the Black Student Alliance to the new Queer and Allied Activism organization. In fact, of the 570 CIOs active on Grounds, around 80 CIOs represent the various minorities and ethnic groups present at the University. Certainly these groups are important in that they provide comfort in group identification and a conduit for minority rights advocacy. But the color of a person's skin does not automatically predetermine his beliefs and interests. The fact that these organizations overemphasize social interaction threatens the greater University community's cohesiveness and creates fringe subcultures that further minority alienation from the dominant culture.
Minority groups provide a base of support for individuals who may suffer discrimination and a foundation for advocacy of civil rights. However, these groups can often become bubbles of familiarity sealed off from the rest of the University population.
Minority organizations should always exist, but they should not make social interaction their primary focus. College, more than any other period in one's life, is a time to test boundaries, expand horizons and above all shed the security blanket of familiarity. While minority organizations perform the important function of giving a voice to students who may otherwise feel too uncomfortable or alone to speak themselves, they also often come from a homogenous background and must take the opportunities the University provides to meet people unlike their family or high school friends. Thus, all students, regardless of heritage or race, should focus on becoming involved in organizations that stress common interests above common skin color or ethnicity. Students should participate in club sports teams or political organizations where they can meet a variety of people united by a common passion.
Furthermore, overly social-centered minority organizations can be counterproductive and actually further alienate their members from the University social scene. Instead of searching out a minority group that represents their particular ethnicity, students would feel more of a part of the University if they joined common interest groups. These groups will allow all types of people to interact based on shared interests rather than on racial or ethnic lines and to feel more like University students.
One example of the University actively promoting a less racially stratified social scene is organizations like Mentoring and International Exchange,an orientation program created by the International Studies Office that works with new international students to become integrated into the larger University culture rather than pointing them in the direction of "insert ethnicity/race here" Student Union. MIX created social and outreach committees to coordinate mixers and social functions with other student organizations on Grounds. This way all students, regardless of background, have the opportunity to meet interesting people in an open social setting.
Some minority groups like the Arab Student Organization do have programs open to students who do not share their same ethnicity by having meetings open to all students. In an e-mail, ASO President Raya Yusuf acknowledged the potential for self-segregation and commented that she has the "responsibility of encouraging [her] members in branching out and becoming active in other group." She said the ASO also "has a responsibility of recruiting non-Arab members [to come to ASO events] in order not to have a segregated group that does not mix with the University Community."
The University provides a microcosm of America changing from a "melting pot" to a "salad bowl" culture, which doesn't speak well for the future of a unified country where people do not feel any ties to their neighbors. Minorities do not have to shed what makes them different to learn not only to work but also to live with others. Simply going to an ethnically diverse class will not promote social cohesiveness. Those who don't come from minority backgrounds are often lectured to branch out and meet people who do not come from the exact same white, tennis playing, chai soy latte-sipping background as they do. This works both ways. Admittedly it is much more difficult for a black person or a gay person to identify with a dominant culture that often does not acknowledge other perspectives. But until ethnic minorities trek down Rugby road one Saturday night, until Southern belles sacrifice a mixer to go to an Indian food festival, the University has a long way to go in fostering an open social culture.
Marta Cook's column usually appears Fridays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at mcook@cavalierdaily.com.
Read More
PATEL: Personal development courses support students beyond the gradebook
By Heer Patel | 4 days agoThe University must rethink its approach to education beyond traditional major-specific requirements and mandate personal development courses.
EDITORIAL: Commercialization threatens U.Va.’s educational mission
By Editorial Board | 5 days agoAfter all, measuring the University’s worth in terms of accrued capital, operational efficiency and numerical rankings molds this space into just another cookie-cutter institution.
YOUNIS: Why every U.Va. student should say yes to English
By Ayat Younis | January 9, 2025Every student at the University, regardless of their primary field of study, can professionally and academically benefit from engaging with the English department.
