Opinion
Multicultural groups enrich campus community
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Also by Suchita Shah:
- Grad speakers sorely lacking (April 30, 2008)
- Onus for funds on UW students (April 23, 2008)
- Arts education gravely ignored (April 16, 2008)
- Multicultural groups enrich campus community (April 9, 2008)
- EPA not able to crack the whip (April 2, 2008)
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Just the facts: Minority students are 20 percent less likely to graduate within six years, compared to the average freshman at the University of Wisconsin, according to the Office of Academic Planning and Analysis. The 2006 undergraduate survey found minorities rated the campus community as “excellent” or “very good” 15 percent less than non-minorities. On the other hand, underrepresented minorities in groups such as the Chancellor’s Scholars program have higher retention and graduation rates than the whole cohort of first-year students.
The problem exposed by this data is one of campus climate. The idea is simple enough: If you find that you feel comfortable here, you are more likely to stay at this school and succeed. The Chancellor’s Scholars program creates a sense of community and fosters comfort. Multicultural “identity” organizations do the exact same thing and make it their overarching mission to improve campus climate, contributing to the university’s goals of increasing retention and graduation rates.
I personally have felt more comfortable on campus because of my involvement with the Indian Students Association. For me, it’s not just interacting with people who look like me or speak my language; it’s about valuing my culture and heritage and bringing awareness and acceptance to the greater campus. All the events ISA puts on, such as the annual India Night performance, allow some people like myself to find a community. It also allows others, particularly those not of South Asian backgrounds, to interact with a community different from their own.
ISA is organized to serve my needs, whether that means satisfying my craving for a traditional garba dance or finding people who understand my family structure. The ISA and other multicultural organizations, like the Wisconsin Black Student Union or the Chinese Undergraduate Student Association, are no different from the LGBT Campus Center, Hillel, the Women in Science and Engineering learning community, fraternities and sororities, the Campus Vegetarian Society, Sober Students on Campus, etc. Every student organization exists to build community for people with similar interests and to help anyone find others with whom to connect.
These “identity” organizations effectively bolster campus climate, but not just for the specific groups they target. With missions of education, awareness and outreach, multicultural organizations are rarely exclusionary. In fact, the vast majority of the time, they are actively inviting all of campus to join. It would seem the only thing isolating these groups is the unwillingness or reluctance of others to interact or attend the events.
I will concede such clubs can become self-segregating. One can make the argument that multicultural identity organizations perpetuate the notion of “separate but equal” because we desire equal treatment yet choose to separate ourselves. However, the members must strive to ensure this is not the case. The comfort zone must be used as a stepping-off point. We must not allow ourselves to become too comfortable or remain in an insulated community.
Just as we ask majority students to challenge themselves by exposure to and interaction with people of diverse backgrounds, minorities as well must reciprocate and challenge themselves to expand beyond the relative comfort of multicultural groups. The path to improving campus climate should begin with these grassroots organizations, but it should not be limited by them.
The fact is that to truly make headway in improving the climate, we must all be invested and challenge ourselves. Multicultural student organizations are only one way we can broaden our educational experience. A single ethnic studies course doesn’t enable one to understand the many varied perspectives and challenges that exist for minority students, which adversely affect retention, graduation and satisfaction from their university experience. But fasting with the Muslim Students Association is a step toward building community. So is attending a traditional powwow organized by Wunk Sheek or picnicking with the Multicultural Student Coalition. Each interaction is a step forward, possible because of the infrastructure and engagement of these identity organizations.
Neither America nor this campus is a melting pot where we all gain a collective identity at the expense of homogenization. The collective identity we should take is that we are students at UW, unique members of the Badger community. If we are to cultivate a sustainable campus climate, we mustn’t emphasize these differences solely for the sake of highlighting them, but rather to invite others to understand them.
I’m going to say it: We are not all the same. We are equal, but we are not the same. And we shouldn’t pretend as much, either. Whether it is the first-generation college student from Antigo, Wis., or the first-generation American from Argentina, we could all benefit from a little community and togetherness. And if that comes from the vibrancy of vital groups like WBSU or CUSA or ISA, wonderful.
However, we must continue to take steps forward. There exist marked disparities in campus climate perceptions, retention and graduation rates. We’re not at that point yet as a society or as a campus community where we can eliminate these gaps without appreciating the role of multicultural identity organizations. Truly, we’re not yet a campus community.
Suchita Shah (sshah@badgerherald.com) is a senior studying neurobiology.
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Suchita, even you know you cannot defend the gross negligence inside organizations like the MCSC with their excessive financial demands and open computer terminals. What a nice area to only be 25% occupied… ALL OF THE TIME.
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“Just the facts: Minority students are 20 percent less likely to graduate within six years, compared to the average freshman at the University of Wisconsin, according to the Office of Academic Planning and Analysis.”
not to be a jerk, but as one of the economic department professors pointed out (and was thus called a racist) have you looked at the admission standards?
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So it’s all about “comfort”, not competence or capacity?
Careful when using facts, they may lead to unpopular conclusions. Better to just chant from the PC bible.
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1:59 am Do you really get up tha early to bitch and complain. Have you ever worked with the MCSC? Perhaps you need to know what it is that you are talking about!
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Suchita, why don’t you learn a little something about white people? I think you’ll find that not all of us are self-important. I hate people like you. You scream “PREJUDICE” all the time and then you turn around and act the same way.
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Suchita Shah, great columnist or greatest columnist?
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MCSC is not 25% occupied all the time. You are confusing us with the MSC. Please do not do it again. If you would like to come and check out our office please come to 324 N. Henry Street and buzz. Spiting out old and unfounded rhetoric gets boring.
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“I will concede such clubs can become self-segregating. One can make the argument that multicultural identity organizations perpetuate the notion of “separate but equal” because we desire equal treatment yet choose to separate ourselves. However, the members must strive to ensure this is not the case. The comfort zone must be used as a stepping-off point. We must not allow ourselves to become too comfortable or remain in an insulated community.”
Excellent point to stipulate and address - strengthens your argument immensely.
If only all the multicultural and other campus groups stopped spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to perform their non-service and non-speech missions on campus…
Brad V
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Notice that two different ideas are being packaged together: multiculturalism and campus groups in general.
There’s nothing new about groups of people coming together to share common interests and be around people that they feel most comfortable with. It’s the multicultural part - the ideas of multiculturalism - that is problematic.
Multiculturalism reduces culture (that is, ideas) to ethic heritage or racial identity - things that one has no control over. It regards community and group membership, not as products of commonly shared ideas, but as determined by race and gender. This is why multiculturalists see statistical disparities between blacks and whites (such as student retention) as a “problem.” Instead of focusing on actual ideas and character differences of individuals who succeed and do not, multiculturalists identify these individuals by the color of their skin.
It is because multiculturalism treats people as members of ethnic groups rather than individuals sharing common ideas, that it embraces the idea that all cultures are morally equivalent. We see this in the fact that multiculturalists will embrace any depraved idea, such as the rampant sexism and violence in hip-hop, as being just another culture to “understand.”
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I just think it’s interesting that online comments on both pages are attacking the article when it’s just as easy to go to the other article and say something supportive. Just an observation.
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11:51 am — how does this piece say anything bad about white people? I think it’s calling on the minorities to do more. And where did Suchita even insinuate prejudice?
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Why are they called “Multicultural” if each one only serves those people from a single “culture”?
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Amazing! It’s almost as if all the Badger Herald columnists get together and figure out how they can write the most irrelevant columns on a regular basis.
Oh wait - apparently that IS the case.
Congrats on not only writing an irrelevant column, but convincing ANOTHER columnist to do the same.
Suchita, you are such a wonder.
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black students can get into this school with lower test scores.
fact.
you’re very lucky.
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Notice that two different ideas are being packaged together: multiculturalism and campus groups in general.
There’s nothing new about groups of people coming together to share common interests and be around people that they feel most comfortable with. It’s the multicultural part - the ideas of multiculturalism - that is problematic.
Multiculturalism reduces culture (that is, ideas) to ethic heritage or racial identity - things that one has no control over. It regards community and group membership, not as products of commonly shared ideas, but as determined by race and gender. This is why multiculturalists see statistical disparities between blacks and whites (such as student retention) as a “problem.” Instead of focusing on actual ideas and character differences of individuals who succeed and do not, multiculturalists identify these individuals by the color of their skin.
It is because multiculturalism treats people as members of ethnic groups rather than individuals sharing common ideas, that it embraces the idea that all cultures are morally equivalent. We see this in the fact that multiculturalists will embrace any depraved idea, such as the rampant sexism and violence in hip-hop, as being just another culture to “understand.”