When people hear VCU they automatically think of diversity. Our campus is full of people that are different. We have people of different: races, religions, ethnic groups, sexual orientation, gender identities and more. VCU is proud of what we are and the students we represent.
Other universities have had to take disciplinary actions as harsh as expulsion for racially charged incidents. Post on social media like snap chats of black face at Kansas State and faces smiling proudly for "locking the black bitch out" of a dorm room in North Dakota.
We march because without justice there is no peace. Our Office of Multicultural Student Affairs facilitates safe spaces for conversation, support and reflection. We join together to "blackout" our campus so their names are not forgotten. We speak our truth because our diversity matters.
We smile when we hear the multitude of languages that be heard just walking to class. We eat at the food carts that cater to students with religious dietary restrictions. We salsa dance at 3 am on a Saturday on the patio in front of Brandt Hall because our diversity matters.
We get educated on microaggressions. We learn better ways to ask someone's ethnicity besides," so what are you?" and "where are you really from?". We make efforts to be more aware of what we say and how we say it because ignorance is not bliss.
We celebrate histories and heritages. We hold candlelight vigils. We have pride in our LBGTQIA+ community. Our diversity matters.
We have uncomfortable conversations.We acknowledge our privilege of obtaining higher education. We give back to our community. We grow to become positive members of society We are leaders because change needs one person to start a movement and the first follower to bring others in too.
VCU isn't diversity on the surface. Its more than a student body with ranges of different skin colors. We are unique on the inside and no ashamed of who we are. We accept and protect each other because we are family.
We are art kids and business majors. We are chem students and aspiring musicians. We wanted to create the next TV shows, write the next headline news stories and the next top doctors. We have the power to achieve greatness .
Everyone has a place to fit in. We all have stories to tell and we all want to listen. We have a community that values the strengths of our differences. We lift each other up in times of weakness.
VCU is more than a university with the label of diversity tacked on to it. We embody everything it means to be diverse. We make our diversity real.
