Three years ago, I was shopping around for a college to
attend, when I checked out the University of Richmond. After
15 minutes on campus, I asked the tour guide, “Where are
all the black people?”
Although I admit I was trying to flirt with the tour guide,
my question was honestly meant. According to the 2000
census, my hometown of Newport News was 39.1 percent
black. Diversity is part of my security blanket.
Call me a sucker for variety. I knew I never could be happy
at U.R. The fact that everyone else would look just like me
would be intolerable. I’m a diversity junkie.
In a Fall 2007 survey, it was reported that 35.6 percent of
VCU’s undergraduate students are non-white. Compare this to
U.R.’s 12-percent “underrepresented minority” undergraduate
students-that is not somewhere I want to be.
If I am hypothesizing correctly, part of the reason most
students choose VCU is because it’s an urban university
and probably the most diverse school in Virginia. We are
a multicultural, urban place of learning, and we should all
take as much advantage of this as possible.
As much as we might all be fans of diversity, few of us
seem to shy away from the same grouping of friends that
we had while in high school.
I am not subscribing to the idea of just gaining a token
black/white/gay/straight/purple/etc. friend for the sake of
proving you aren’t a bigot. I do, however, support trying to
change up the groups of people with whom you associate.
Don’t just hang out with indie kids. Branch out to the jocks
and the hip-hoppers. Don’t just hang out with preps. Make
friends with the rastas and the punks, too.
While we’re at it, we should take advantage of all
the opportunities VCU and Richmond offer. There
are a few film festivals every year and plenty of
multicultural places to eat right near campus.
When was the last time you went to a museum
or an art gallery?
It’s cool to be surrounded by such a variety of
cultures, but unless we take advantage of it, we
might as well be going to U.R.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but going
to an international festival once a year does not
equate to branching out. I don’t mean to put down
cultural extravaganzas, but our attempts to diversify
shouldn’t stop there. If we are unwilling to step out
of our comfort zones every so often, then we have
lost the willingness to learn.
We only get to do this college thing once. After a
few years, we will be off in the world trying to work in
professions that benefit society. The more well-rounded and
knowledgeable we are about other cultures, the better off we
are as a civilization.
So take that Caribbean-dance class. Go to as many diversity
festivals as possible. Try out that Ethiopian restaurant you’ve
always been longing to go to. And when all else fails, buy
the world a Coke.