LATINO FESTIVAL

Office of Multicultural Affairs Talks Diversity

         I enjoy people watching. While some might find this a bit strange, I, being a psychology major, actually think it’s a great way to pass time and it also gives me a chance to learn a lot. Human beings are very complex, and although we will never get to know who someone really is unless we talk to them, we can learn a lot by just observing our surroundings, and how they behave in them. For example, I’ve learned that I know more left handed people than I thought. I’ve also observed that there are so many different ways one can hold a pencil. I am able to pick up on a person’s favorite color, if they cross their legs while talking, or if they have certain comforting mannerisms they do without even realizing. Little things like that actually make up a person. If I can learn all that just by watching a person, imagine how much I can learn by striking a conversation!

Over the summer, I was talking to a friend about a whole lot of nothing, but from that conversation alone we learned so much about each other in just twenty minutes. We learned things that may have seemed small, but they were essentially a huge part of us. Not only that, but because of that conversation we learned one important thing, “I’m not the only one who does this!” So, while I found many difference between us, it was good to find some similarities as well. 

I can only imagine how many differences there must be on this campus, how many lefties are there, how many people come from small families, how many come from big ones. How many people wear glasses that actually need them, how many wear contacts instead? How many people don’t wear or need glasses at all. How many different hair types there are, how about eye colors, or shoes sizes? I often wonder who was brought up with strict parents and who had more democratic parents? Do you ever take the time to find out the values you share with your friends? Are there any values that you or your friends see completely different? Partaking in a classroom discussion shows me how many people have disabilities, how many people are only children, how many people come from working class families, even. Think about how DIVERSE this campus really is. Many people have this misconception of diversity, and only think of ‘big pictures’ such as race, religion, and/or sexual orientation, and that doesn’t even begin to cover what diversity is. If you take the time to observe people or even have a conversation about nothing among your circle of friends, not only will you notice that there’s more to your circle than your common interests (which I would assume bonds you), but you’ll truly appreciate who you are and appreciate the differences you see around you. So, go ahead and embrace diversity, you’ll be glad you did. 

- Isabelle Biennestin 

9th Annual Step and Dance Competition April 9th 1-4 P.M. $3 Admission Fee (Assumption Students Free)

What is Privilege?

“White Privilege is the other side of racism. Unless we name it, we are in danger of wallowing in guilt or moral outrage with no idea of how to move beyond them. It is often easier to deplore racism and its effects than to take responsibility for the privileges some of us receive as a result of it… once we understand how white privilege operates, we can begin addressing it on an individual and institutional basis.” ~Paula Rothenberg

“Privilege exists when one group has something of value that is denied to others simply because of the groups they belong to, rather than because of anything they’ve done or failed to do. Access to privilege doesn’t determine one’s outcomes, but it is defiantly as asset that makes it more likely that whatever talent, ability, and aspirations a person with privilege has will result in something positive for them.” ~Peggy McIntosh

Indirect Intercultural Communication By:Tyler Alston-Swan

Being able to really seek knowledge and understand how people from different cultures act, communicate, and perceive the world around them is more than less, very important. Being able to come to a mutual understood meaning between any intercultural encounter is the object of communication, effective communication. I come from Puerto Rican and African American descent but in relation to this article, I am first, a STUDENT of this liberal arts institution. I am second, a student of color.

I am growing weary of this back and forth indirect communication between the “majority” and the “minority”. All it does is cause tension between certain groups on campus, I feel it and so do you. In-person intercultural communication is the most effective way to suspend any misperceptions towards cultures and/or ethnic heritages that differ from your own. Deep in-person dialogue between the “majority” and the “minority” is the only TRUE dialogue that will draw a significant connection between this mindless and ignorant gap between us, on both ends. Liberal arts; free to chose, free to be, but not free from mental segregation. This mindset of not wanting to step outside our cultural boundaries and being afraid to sway and linger from our in-groups isn’t progressive. If anything, we will only continue to bind ourselves tightly to what we know as “comfortable”, until the bind is too tight: until the subtle damage that has progressed over time is too great to reverse or mend.

Many of us are familiar with the term, “don’t talk about it, be about it”. This institution takes pride in our students; we take pride in our faculty. We take pride in what we as a catholic institution has accomplished over the years! Now it’s sincerely time to take pride in the cultural diversity WE have created. It’s time to stop talking about what we should do, but what we can do to diminish or shrink the gap between our white and minority students. It’s time to BE who we say we are. “Our Catholic identity also challenges us to create a campus culture that respects the dignity of each member of this community because all of us are created in the image and likeness of God.” These are the very words from Assumption’s President, Dr. Cesareo. Are you up for the challenge?