CAW garners attention
Multicultural events serve as conduit for diversity discussion
Jessica Chou
Issue date: 9/19/08 Section: Trinity Life
Is Trinity University diverse?
This is an open-ended question. It can mean many things to different people. When asked this question during Cultural Awareness Week (CAW), different students gave very different answers.
Junior Maria Luisa Lopez, an international student from Mexico, said, "I do think Trinity is diverse. There is a majority and a minority, but I do get to see people from different countries."
This prompts another question: How many people from different countries must there be for a school to be considered diverse?
When asked if Trinity is diverse, Junior Aparna Bellur said, "Not enough, although I think [Trinity is] putting in effort into diversifying. We would definitely benefit from bringing in more students of different ethnicities; it could only improve the school. The first generation program that Trinity implemented this year is a great start, however."
To many students, the word diversity links to the word ethnicity; the two have always gone hand-in-hand, but for other students, this view is too specific.
Junior Gabriella Alvarado, an international student from Costa Rica, offered another definition.
"Different cultures are represented to a certain extent, but to fully accomplish diversity, you can't just have people from different countries," Alvarado said. "Diversity involves social class, it involves religion… [without these things] it tends to be very homogenous."
So what does it mean to be diverse? Once we delve past ethnicity and social class, there is a plethora of factors that could qualify as diversity.
"I think Trinity is diverse in ways that people are unaware of. If you look at diversity in many different ways, be it socio-economic class, be it family background, be it locality and region, be it ethnic, be it religious. We're not the most diverse campus, but I believe a lot of diversity on campus is diversity that you cannot see, diversity that you won't know until you get on an individual or personal basis," Senior Annie Rappeport said. "Every individual brings diversity."
This is an open-ended question. It can mean many things to different people. When asked this question during Cultural Awareness Week (CAW), different students gave very different answers.
Junior Maria Luisa Lopez, an international student from Mexico, said, "I do think Trinity is diverse. There is a majority and a minority, but I do get to see people from different countries."
This prompts another question: How many people from different countries must there be for a school to be considered diverse?
When asked if Trinity is diverse, Junior Aparna Bellur said, "Not enough, although I think [Trinity is] putting in effort into diversifying. We would definitely benefit from bringing in more students of different ethnicities; it could only improve the school. The first generation program that Trinity implemented this year is a great start, however."
To many students, the word diversity links to the word ethnicity; the two have always gone hand-in-hand, but for other students, this view is too specific.
Junior Gabriella Alvarado, an international student from Costa Rica, offered another definition.
"Different cultures are represented to a certain extent, but to fully accomplish diversity, you can't just have people from different countries," Alvarado said. "Diversity involves social class, it involves religion… [without these things] it tends to be very homogenous."
So what does it mean to be diverse? Once we delve past ethnicity and social class, there is a plethora of factors that could qualify as diversity.
"I think Trinity is diverse in ways that people are unaware of. If you look at diversity in many different ways, be it socio-economic class, be it family background, be it locality and region, be it ethnic, be it religious. We're not the most diverse campus, but I believe a lot of diversity on campus is diversity that you cannot see, diversity that you won't know until you get on an individual or personal basis," Senior Annie Rappeport said. "Every individual brings diversity."
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