Cornelius Range V | Build bridges, not barriers

Penn is amazing because of its diversity. If nothing else, Penn brings together students from every corner of the globe and from all walks of life and makes interculturalism possible. The 5B, which encompasses five minority umbrella groups (the United Minorities Council, UMOJA, the Latino Coalition, the Asian Pacific Students Coalition and the Lambda Alliance), is a testament to the diversity found on this campus.

Paradoxically, though, these same groups also demonstrate how we fail to fully capitalize on the opportunity to build interculturalism and the chance to expose ourselves to different perspectives. Often in staking out our own identities, we inadvertently reinforce barriers or create new ones. I’ll give you an example.

Last spring, following a UMC meeting, a couple of students floated the idea to create a group for students of mixed heritage. They wanted to call it “Check One.”

When asked if I would join, I declined. I understand that some students of mixed heritage might want to establish a community with people who have similar experiences. If those students want to join a group like Check One, it’s certainly within their right to do so.

One of the motivations behind the name Check One was to highlight the conundrum presented to mixed students who had been forced to check only one box on the U.S. Census or other surveys that ask for their race or ethnicity. The irony here, though, is that a student group like Check One would neatly place students in some sort of category — creating an end that stands contrary to part of the group’s mission.

Another likely motivation that led students to propose the idea of the group was the corporate or entrepreneurial mindset that seems to be ever pervasive on this campus, for better or worse. Penn students have a certain propensity for seeking out leadership positions and, when leadership opportunities in the form of so called “exec” board positions are limited, students will often establish new groups entirely.

Many times, these groups are identity-focused — for example, Penn Hawaii. While I think that Hawaii has a unique culture that’s worthy of celebration, this could also be true of almost every state and certainly the regions that these states comprise.

Why not have a similar group for students from the South, Midwest or West Coast? From there, members could branch off to form sub-groups that capture the culture of individual states, cities even localities. Identity-based groups could continue to fragment until we’re just individuals and not part of any group at all. If this happened though, we might miss the most stringent message that diversity stands to offer.

The structure of the 5B is so preoccupied with satisfying the needs of individual minority groups that it loses its focus on the pursuit of interculturalism. Why not reorganize it so that it’s grounded within the United Minorities Council? While the Lambda Alliance, Latino Coalition, UMOJA and APSC are all promoters of interculturalism, it’s somewhat nonsensical to place these umbrella interest groups on the same plane as the UMC, whose larger mission encapsulates each of their own.

To be clear, I’m not arguing for a colorless campus.

In Black Students in the Ivory Tower, a book that recounts Penn’s history as it pertains to race and culture, 1980 College graduate Wayne Glasker argues against a homogenous, nonracial society that would “obliterate consciousness of difference.” While Glasker is right to point out that a homogenous society should not be our aim, we should appreciate our unique identities and, at the same time, acknowledge that we are also part of a larger community.

In the conclusion of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, he too spoke of a larger community and the existence of a brotherhood among all people. He wanted to remind us that we are all more alike than apart. This is the greatest message that diversity can impart and one that I will take with me as I leave Penn.

Let’s build bridges, not barriers.

Cornelius Range is a College senior from Memphis, Tenn. His email address is crang@sas.upenn.edu. Plead the Fifth appears every Wednesday.

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