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Editor’s note: This article was collectively written by the Latin American Student Organization, Asian Student Association, Black Student Union, Student Heritage Alliance Center and members of the university community.
According to the University of Maine’s Diversity Action Plan, the term “diversity” includes an understanding and appreciation of difference in age, ethnicity, gender, race, culture, nationality, sexual orientation, religion, class and physical ability.
Recently, cultural groups and their reason for existence at the University has been brought into question. Clubs such as the Latin American Student Organization, the Black Student Union, the Asian Student Association and others hase been spotlighted and suddenly have people wondering about their purpose and how they serve the community. Along with these organizations, the ALANA Center (African-American, Latino/a, Asian and Native American) has been besieged. Despite the fact that most of these groups have existed on this campus since the mid-1990s, there is a degree of unfamiliarity of their activities, members, and what they do within the University community to promote diversity.
In the past week, students have been privy to a satirical column which attacked the integrity of such cultural organizations. The column was meant to point out that these organizations do little but divide the minority community on this campus. The attempt made in this column was poor at best. The author’s effort to alienate such groups has done nothing but unite them.
However, the reason for such groups’ existence is still of concern. Students of every culture and race help to broaden the horizons of each and every student. The Diversity Action Plan states that by changing the climate and the composition of the University, and working toward a more inclusive curriculum, UMaine will become a place where “students explore the notion of self and others … embrace and learn from human differences … and prepare for responsible citizenship in a society that is becoming increasingly diverse.”
The cultural organizations on this campus strive to unite all students. They are open to students of every race and culture, and welcome the unique perspective that every potential member may contribute. Members realize that students can learn from everyone, as that our differences make us interesting. They should be embraced rather than ridiculed.
While some assume that a student has to be of a certain nationality or race to join a cultural group, one might be surprised at the amount of white students who belong to and are officers within these groups. For example, if one attended a LASO meeting, one would find that a good amount of students involved in the club are of non-Latino descent, but all of the students involved have some sort of vested interest in the Latino culture.
The ALANA Center, which houses the offices of the SHAC, BSU, ASA and LASO, was founded in 1999 as a focal point of cultural enrichment and diversity. It is its goal to create a space where all students feel welcomed and appreciated, and that through a sense of community, it can educate and encourage others about the significance and contributions of everyone, regardless of heritage. These organizations work together to program such important events as the Black History Month Celebration, and the Latino Heritage Celebration both of which occur annually. Without such organizations, students might never have the opportunity to experience an evening of jazz and spoken word poetry – which were some of the highlights of last year’s Black History Month Celebration – or learn how to salsa or merengue, or see a mariachi performance through dance lessons put on by LASO.
Each cultural organization exists for the simple reason that it enriches the community through events and programs. The aim is not to “force diversity down people’s throats”, as Chris Allen suggested in his column in The Maine Campus, but to “provide the experience of diversity to all students, most of whom are from Maine and from relatively homogeneous communities and high schools.”
An attempt was made in Allen’s column to point out the problems within the cultural organizations here at UMaine. This column was penned in the hopes that with this new information, students will become curious – curious enough to stop by a meeting, attend an event, or just destroy the preconceived notions they might already have about these groups.
