Nicolas Rodriquez: Investing time in diversity on campus

Do we as a community analyze Penn's policies and practice of multiculturalism and diversity when Penn markets itself saying "I am diverse, I am multicultural?" Diversity is what we want to portray to the outside world, especially because it makes us look like a more meaningful institution of higher learning in a country at the forefront of the global community.

Still, Penn is a contradiction, as its "projected" image does not follow its true approach toward diversity. Penn markets itself as being a "melting pot" or whatever cheesy metaphor you want to use to describe diversity. However, Penn uses an approach that follows more on the lines of a kindergarten "Show and Tell" session.

The problem in our community is complicated. For one, we don't interact with each other much -- we stick to going to class, selectively interact in dorms and maybe participating in a few campus events.

Students cheat themselves by not exploring campus, getting out of their comfort space and, for example, going to the ARCH Building to learn more about Asian, Latino or Black culture. You can explore by taking time to visit Hillel or the Christian Association building, or getting involved in community service or leadership. Why not sit down and interact with members of the Greek or LGBT communities? Speak with them, debate them if you have differences of opinion and try to take something away from those interactions.

Students don't do that, or are afraid to, and because of that we blame each other for segregating. Fault lies in the overarching Penn community because most people aren't open with each other; they don't want to talk about the reality on campus, that we are not comfortable in interacting.

An administrator once said to me, "What can Penn do? We can't force these kids to interact. We can't do everyone's job." And the administration can't do everything. But Penn shouldn't take the attitude that its job ends with the applicant process and getting kids registered for classes.

The school should encourage people through action, by showing more support and not straining relations with the different communities that interact here. That means not just ethnic minorities like me, but for religious groups, Greeks, community and social organizations and LGBT communities -- no matter what color, creed or economic status.

A great example is the recent work of the University Board of Trustees, who have created a presidential search committee to find our next president. They have chosen to not seek student input and have given graduate, professional and undergraduate students the smallest possible voice on the committee. The future of Penn lies in the hands of a group of individuals who rarely seek our input, and the administrators of the University do not defend our right to be equals in this confidential process.

We as students can learn a lot from this, and we can change this University for the better if we just seek each other out.

Obtaining a well-rounded education is the key to success at Penn. But what good is an education if you don't have the ability to interact with a diverse body of people? In the global community and marketplace, if you are going to survive, you have to be able to communicate with people from many disparate backgrounds. At the same time, Penn has to put its money where its mouth is, figuratively and literally.

Penn builds student programs, resource and academic centers for the purpose of creating interaction, but we don't give them the helping hand they need to grow, the people and resources needed for their growth. These programs don't have adequate financial support and their development is greatly damaged.

If Penn's community is to be a tool for advertising diversity, then we need to invest time, communication and financial resources in creating a truly diverse and multiethnic community. As students, we must make the effort to meet each other halfway, be honest about our differences and discuss how we as a complex body can work to better our situation. Finger-pointing does little. Dialogue and action does much more.

We can throw around titles and pet projects that make us look important, but all we are doing is masking the truth. Better for us to acknowledge the truth and challenge each other than to let sleeping dogs lie.

Members of the Penn community: sit down, talk about the state of scholarship at Penn and the state of the community. When you hear someone utter the word "diversity," make them think real hard about what that means and how that can become reality on a campus such as this. Rethink the goals you have set for Penn, and work to set new ones.

As Nobel Laureate Octavio Paz said, "Wisdom lies neither in fixity nor in change, but in the dialectic between the two." Let's cut the bullshit and start a real dialogue, a challenge to the way we approach higher education at the University of Pennsylvania. What can truly define our place in higher education is creating an environment that is not only socially, economically and ethnically diverse, but that brings those parties to a table where they can talk, interact and decide what the future of this institution can be.

Nicolas Rodriquez is a senior Political Science major from Sanger, Calif. and spokesman for the Latino Coalition.

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