You’ll usually hear liberal arts schools boast about how diverse they are. They will then back that claim up with the list of countries they recruit from, the percentage of students that receive financial aid, and their race/ethnicity statistics. Regardless of how you interpret this information, it is packaged to sell. They want you to believe that you are about to enter a cultured, accepting, and worldly environment.
Admittedly, when I started college, I believed that I was about to enter this magical land of open-mindedness and multiculturalism. “Finally a break from the corn field,” I thought. Once I arrived on campus and began to realize how things work, I was disappointed. Not necessarily in our statistics (which could be better but aren’t that bad compared to other schools), but in how people were interacting with one another. It felt like a clique revival from high school.
Now, I know that I’m not the only one who has something to say about diversity on campus or how people interact with one another. These are both issues that students feel passionately about and are attempting to conquer throughout their college careers. I have my own frustrations with these issues, as I’m sure you do. That’s the problem. Everyone talks about it, but no one does anything.
More often than not, students act like it’s the administration’s fault for allowing cliques to form and segregation to ensue. Word of advice: don’t complain about something that you aren’t trying to fix. While the administration has a hand in it, the responsibility needs to fall on us. It absolutely has to fall on us because we pay too much damn money to attend college and not engage.
This responsibility will look different for every student depending on their comfort zones. Additionally, the actions of one student will not change the entire campus culture. In an ideal world, everyone would take a step towards broadening our perception and respect about one another. For example, I have a friend who makes it their mission to attend meetings for the different multicultural organizations. They aren’t an active member, but they go to listen. They go to learn about something outside of their daily bubble. I also have a friend who likes sitting with new people at lunch or dinner every day when they see someone alone. Chances are, no one will tell you to go away if you ask to join them. I have other friends who take to organizing multicultural events for the entire campus to enjoy. These things can all be fit into a Google calendar.
Yes, we could make our campus more diverse and change the numbers. That’s one piece of the puzzle. However, we will not be able to enjoy that diversity until we invest effort into new relationships and opportunities. We need to create an environment that supports diversity and knows how to welcome it in productive, engaging ways. “Diversity” won’t knock on your doorstep. You need to put in effort to discover the benefits that it offers.
