Diversity discussions within universities are increasing and becoming more and more active, most especially within cultural organizations. At the University of Portland, students are calling for more action towards diversity. Fr. Mark Poorman, President of the university, is responding and providing solutions and actions to these calls. He recently proposed a five-year strategic plan that aims not only to increase cultural awareness and diversity but to provide an easy access to mental health resources as well.

Student leaders from different cultural organizations on campus are expressing their thoughts, concerns, and ideas for improvement. Filipino American Student Association president, Justin Low, hopes to expand the club with a goal to promote cultural awareness and inclusion through various events. Despite the diversity issues and concerns on campus, he mentions that “the university especially being a private, Catholic institute has been very responsive”. Makayla Martinez, Guam Club president also noticed that the university is doing a great job of “trying to enforce diversity and trying to make it more widespread across campus.”

However, Low also says that “there is still a lack of financial resources aimed towards diversity and inclusion on campus.” Additionally, Leonard Firme, Hawaii Club president, also thinks that the diversity clubs on campus are not receiving a sufficient amount of funds from ASUP. “I feel like we deserve more,” Firme says.

Every year, some clubs host their very own cultural nights where they showcase their talents through their own cultures. The most active ones being Hawaii Club, Guam Club, and the Filipino American Student Association. Even other rising cultural clubs are getting inspired to host their own special event. Olie Pham, president of the Vietnamese Student Association, has a bigger agenda. Pham highlights togetherness as an element for diversity.

When asked about having a multicultural building on campus, student leaders were delighted by the idea of easy interaction with each other; because “the bare minimum of collaboration that we have together is helping volunteer at other cultural clubs events and then we break off to our own individual groups,” Low explicitly stated. Thus, they began to come up with other ideas that may alleviate any signs of exclusivity or lack of interaction between or within cultural clubs. Firme suggested to have a retreat for all diversity clubs on campus, while Pham suggested an event where all cultural clubs exhibit a traditional performance or presentation to show other students. With these events, Pham believes that it will bring students closer and “when an issue arises, we got each other’s backs.” International Club President, Thao Nguyen, also mentions that collaborations between cultural organizations are becoming more evident.

Moreover, they also emphasized that all cultural clubs have similar goals and come from similar backgrounds. “It is important to show people our way of life and how things are done in certain areas,” Martinez added. Nguyen also mentions "that way, students can learn more about different cultures, especially from each other. We are doing the best we can."

Although in a much broader scale, Carolyn Lutzenhiser, French Club president believes that “on an institutional level, the university needs to hire more professors of color and to have affirmative selection processes to go about it.” Just recently, Fr. Poorman offered diversity workshops to faculty professors to guide them into understanding diversity, especially in a classroom setting. It definitely important that student voices are heard, but it is equally essential to have leaders guide them through it.