Forum fosters unity among cultural groups

The University frequently cites its cultural diversity as one of its strongest qualities, but many students believe that the different ethnic, racial and religious groups on campus do not interact enough. That subject is the main focus of a week-long forum called "Creating Unity," sponsored by the student group The Global Village. The forum began Monday at the Greenfield Intercultural Center. The Global Village formed last year in response to perceived segregation among the University student body. "The main goal of the forum is to promote unity and diversity on campus," College sophomore Hilary Leland said. Leland and College sophomore Vishal Savani organized the forum -- attended by more than 30 students -- which was facilitated by the Program for Awareness in Cultural Education. During the forum -- at which anyone was free to speak -- student statements were taped anonymously for future use. The tapes will be "used in the future as a resource for faculty, administration and student organizations," Leland noted. Similar forums will take place at 8 p.m. today and on Monday. The Black Student League, Asian Pacific Student Coalition, Arab Student Association and International Students were among the student groups represented at the first forum or who will be represented at the others. Leland and Savani noted that the forums hope to discuss student perceptions of cross-cultural, cross-ethnic and cross-religious interaction and their perceptions of the existing programs that seek to address these problems. It also hopes to discuss the use of a proposed unity center on campus. Among the concerns expressed at Monday's session was that people often stay use their own cultural group as a "security blanket" when entering a new environment. Most students felt that institutions such as the United Minority Council and PACE are beneficial, but added that such organizations need to find ways to make the general student body aware of their programs. Several participants also agreed that the University must be careful not to "force feed" interaction in hopes that it will occur on a more fundamental level. Other proposed ideas included completely randomizing freshman housing to foster more diverse groups. And several students said they liked the idea of taking a class about diversity -- as a freshmen seminar or as a mandatory pass/fail class for all students. The Global Village's proposal to create a unity center at the University was welcomed by the students, most of whom said it should be set up in a central area of campus. They added that better means of communication -- such as a campus-wide listserv -- should be established to alert students of its events and encourage more interaction.