COLUMN: UMC: The Voice of Minority Students?

From Jenifer Wana's "Whatever You Say, Dear," Fall '94 From Jenifer Wana's "Whatever You Say, Dear," Fall '94 When you think of minorities, what comes to mind? If this is the case, then it seems logical, if not necessary, that these groups unite in order to represent the minority students to University committees. In addition, they should respond to concerns involving the entire minority student body, such as the Racial Harassment Policy, and communicate with each other to reach a consensus on these matters. Now you're asking, what's the point? We already have the United Minorities Council, which does all of this. The point is that the UMC is a council of members who represent racial and ethnic minorities rather than an organization devoted to representing only the racial groups recognized by the government . There is not one Latino, one black, one Asian, or one Native American student speaking for their particular race. Instead, it is composed of nine cultural groups--the Chinese Students Association, Vietnamese Students Association, Japanese Cultural Society, Korean Students Association, Black Students League, Caribbean American Students Association, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicao de Aztlan (MEChA), La Asociacion Cultural de Estudiantes Latinos Americanos (ACELA), and the South Asian Society. If the UMC is supposedly the voice of the University's 3000 plus minority students, I wonder if they really think they are doing their job, considering the Council has no Native Americans or non-Chinese/South Asian/Korean/Japanese Asians. The answer sounds simple – why don't clubs like Six Winds or the Penn Thai Club just join? Well maybe it's because their group doesn't happen to be SAC recognized. Or maybe they can't afford the $50 membership fee. And if you're a Cambodian or Laotian student, tough luck. You're on your own unless you start your own club, (which can be hard if there aren't even five students of your ethnicity here) get recognition from SAC, and manage to come up with $50 a year. And if every student did manage this, the UMC could someday include the Kenyan Cultural Society and the Penn Macao Club? What the heck, why not the Irish Club? After all, they're not exactly a majority of the population. So instead of trying to encourage every possible cultural group on campus to join, the UMC should just be comprised of members who represent the political definition of racial (as opposed to religious or sexual) minorities I described in my first paragraph. After all, the UMC was designed to be political, wasn't it? What was their stance on the Racial Harassment Policy, anyway? Or was there one? But hey, at least you can always get tasty samosas at the annual UMC Celebration of Culture festival. Too bad you can't also sign a petition demanding a permanent Asian American studies professor or get information on why the UMC thinks you should support/not support the racial harassment code. And what if the Asian members of the Council happen to disagree with the others on a certain issue. Considering there are five Asian, two Latino, and two black groups represented, guess how the vote will turn out. For those readers not mathematically-oriented, that means that the Asians, if in agreement, will never lose. I have a feeling Native American issues aren't discussed too much at the meetings. So what if they want a Native American literature course, or a cultural center. Like I said before, tough luck. I propose that each racial group get an equal vote when it comes to deciding on their issue agenda and plan of action. This may mean finding a group and/or student to replace several others, such as Students for Asian Affairs representing the Asian population, rather than four Asian cultural groups representing themselves. Whatever the case, we need to look at this organization, the UMC, whose objectives are to represent minorities at Penn, be a political voice for them, and communicate with each other on minority concerns. Despite the hard work and dedication of its chairperson and members, we must question who comprises the member organizations and how that reflects on who the UMC is really representing and whose concerns are being addressed. Minority or not, just think about it. Jenifer Wana is junior Communications major from Willowbrook, Illinois. Whatever You Say, Dear will appear alternate Fridays.