An ordinary Tuesday afternoon working on class assignments quickly climaxed to shock when I opened up my email and saw a message with the subject "Important Community Announcement." Intrigued, I clicked on this email, which all Biola University students received. The contents of this email left me saddened and I felt as though a ten-pound weight was attached to my heart.

This message from Vice Provost for Inclusion & Cross Cultural Engagement Dr. Pamela M. Christian and Chief Student Development Officer & Dean of Students Daniel D. Paschall stated details about the incident, what Biola is doing to address the situation, and what students can do going forward to include those whom they view as different into the community.

According to this official statement, the incident occurred on Wednesday, April 13 and clearly violated community standards since a swastika was drawn over the residence hall door of an African American student in Blackstone Hall. Biola Campus Safety and the Los Angeles County Sherrif's Department (LASD) are currently investigating the situation. President Barry Corey also addressed the circumstances during Wednesday morning chapel and discussed how to create an inclusive community where people of color are safe, valued, and heard.

"The individual(s) responsible have not yet been identified, and their intent is unknown. Nevertheless, it needs to be clearly and publicly stated that such an action is in direct opposition to Biola's values of truth, transformation and testimony, which are intended to ensure that our students are equipped in mind and character to impact the world for the Lord Jesus Christ. Our community is to be characterized by Christ’s love in order to be a relevant and redemptive voice in a changing world."
- Official statement from Biola University

The announcement also included details about two different events that occurred related to the incident. Biola Residence Life hosted a forum at Blackstone's first floor conference room on Thursday, April 21 and a panel/ discussion addressing racial incidents on campus was held in the Mosaic Cultural Center.

As a Biola student, I was shocked that something like this would occur in a community full of loving people. However, it opened my eyes to reality and reminded me that bad things occur everywhere, even in places we call a safe haven. It also demonstrates how although America has come a long way accepting diversity since the Civil Rights Movement, we still do not include everyone in the community.

My New Testament professor also was stunned that something like this would happen at an institution like Biola. Instead of giving the lecture he prepared, my professor gathered us to the front of the room and started a conversation by asking us to share our thoughts, feelings, and questions about the situation.

God is highly creative so it is no surprise there are people with different appearances and cultures with different traditions and languages. What kind of God would we worship if everyone was just a clone of someone else? Yes, we should celebrate differences but in the sense that God created various types of people, but not in the sense that one race or gender is superior over another.

One of the students, who is from a Hispanic background, shared how he was first afraid to attend Biola because he feared others would not accept him. He explained how although the Biola community has welcomed him, he still sees a lack of appreciation for diversity on campus through negative tweets targeted at the Spanish chapel band for singing music in a different language during chapels.

People often have difficulty interacting with those from different backgrounds because they do not understand a particular culture. In addition, they may share different experiences from those of different cultures, so they do not understand what someone else is going through. We sometimes also make assumptions about different cultures. I've often noticed this among my Asian friends who are Korean who said they often receive comments about Japanese culture. Instead of making assumptions about other ethnicity, we can ask others what that culture is particularly like.

Even though we should be conscious of our own attitudes and cultural biases, we should also be wary of the racial slurs and other comments that do not promote diversity in our conversations with others. If a friend makes a racial comment, we should speak up and tell them — lovingly and respectfully — why it is not okay.

It is one thing to become aware of our own personal misconceptions, but how do we promote diversity within our community?

One step towards diversity is asking others to share their stories and listen to them with humility. We must realize that, despite our best efforts, we view other cultures through a lens we have developed over time. In order to understand what these people are facing, we should ask them to share their stories, how they feel, and about the ways they have seen their culture misrepresented. We should not treat these people as foreigners but should put these thoughts aside and listen to the person's story. In addition, we should not assume that everything is simply okay with someone from a different culture from us — they could harbor feelings deep inside that they do not express in fear of judgement from their peers.

The most important thing we can do is show love to others. It takes time for change to occur, so it is important to remain patient with those who do not appreciate cultural differences as they correct their initial impressions of those who are different from them. As a community, we must also support our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ who have been hurt through situations like these.

On the flip side, let someone who says or does something that offends you personally know how it hurt you. Many people do not intentionally offend someone but instead do not realize their words or actions offend someone because these things were acceptable wherever they grew up. In addition, some individuals may have grown up in an area with a low level of diversity, so interacting with those from other ethnic backgrounds than theirs is a completely new experience.

Attending cultural events is a great way to experience diversity since they provide great opportunities to learn about other cultures we do not know much about. There are also great opportunities for cross-cultural engagement through studying abroad or venturing on a missions trip. In addition, people unknowingly are attracted to those who are similar to them, so we can also go out of our way to include others different than us and learn more about what makes them unique.

As Christians, it is also crucial to pray for others — pray that God would change the hearts of those who hate others that are different than them and open their eyes to the beauty of God's diverse creation. Pray that our nation would realize that we do not need to view racial and ethnic differences negatively as previous generations did. Pray that we would look past physical appearances and appreciate the unique personalities God gave to each individual.

In addition, we must realize that every believer is part of the body of Christ — regardless of their appearance, gender, social status, or ethnic background — as stated in Galatians 3:28.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
-Galatians 3:28 (ESV)

One final thing we can do is realize that even the smallest efforts to promote change do make a difference. Change can occur from starting a conversation within your friend group or spreading awareness on campus, within your church, or around the community. We can change the culture through our individual actions that set off sparks and eventually cause a great fire to break out.