Diverse Students, Meet Concerned Faculty

So earlier this week I spoke on a panel with three other students in a workshop aimed at creating a discussion and educating faculty members at my communications/journalism school on what it feels like "Being the Only One" from a student perspective.

I spoke about my experience identifying as a bi-racial student on a pretty segregated campus and the difficulties I had when I first came to school of being accepted and approached among students who maintain such persistent categorizations. The other students on the panel discussed what it was like to be black, Muslim, and one guy even talked about what it was like to be one of only four male public relations students in his class.




It felt good to discuss issues that have have been important to me/affected me for so long and it definitley replenished my passion for raising awareness about diversity- something that had been coming second to school and everything else on my plate right now.

And it felt even better to see and feel the genuine concern that was expressed faculty members (some who even were once my professors).

But talking about my past experiences also made me wonder about what diversity and racial relations used to mean to me when I first came to this college and what they mean to me now. My level of comfort at this non-diverse institution has definitley been eased, but what exactly does that mean? Does it mean that I became more comfortable with myself and reaped the benefits of staying true to who I was?

Or does it mean I have successfully assimilated into what is culturally acceptable and common in this Southern institution?

Definitely food for thought..and something I will need to come back to after doing a little self reflection.

Nevertheless, my diversity awareness efforts continue!