New club aims to integrate University

Wharton freshman Neysan Rassekh and Engineering freshman Vesal Dini were tired of complaining about the lack of racial integration on Penn's campus. The two friends, who knew each other prior to coming to the University, decided that it was time to take a stand. So they created Global Village, a new club intended to unite all racial and ethnic groups at the University through social events, according to Dini. The club will sponsor an informal luncheon on College Green and multi-cultural dances, he said, adding that the group also plans to bring in a speaker to discuss the problems of integration in today's society. Dini said he views the next stage in evolution as "the oneness of humanity." He said he felt diversity could be the University's greatest strength. "But we just need to get other people involved in order to make this happen," he added. Dini explained that he and Rassekh invited a large group of students from Hill College House last week to participate in an informal dinner and information session about the club. College sophomore Muc Nguyen, president of the Vietnamese Student Association, attended the meeting and said she felt optimistic about the club. "Penn has never had an organization quite like this one," she said. "This kind of club could bring everybody together, not just minorities." College freshman Jeff Shih, external vice president for the Penn Taiwanese Society, said that despite a few worries, he is a firm supporter of the idea. "I was concerned when a lot of groups did not show up to the meeting," Shih said. "I think that Penn needs a club like this to link people together. People should give it a chance." Shih explained that his experiences at Penn make him concerned that the club might be steered into becoming simply another minority group. "Their goal can't be reached overnight," he said. "But maybe with the right kind of effort it can be done."