Defense of Student Diversity Board
The Student Diversity Board
Saint Mary's College
We are writing in response to the March 7 article about the Student Diversity Board at Saint Mary's College. We feel that the article was not an example of objective journalism and presented a scaled view of our board. For the sake of balanced reporting, we are writing to share what was not covered in the article. We are not trying to defend or justify our accomplishments; we merely want the community to know both sides of the story.
First of all, the article did not mention that this year has been the very first year Student Diversity Board (SDB) ever existed. This organization was created last April by a small group of individuals who put together a constitution and obtained approval from the Board of Governance of Saint Mary's College. We have started from scratch and had no legacy to guide us in our task of promoting diversity.
Despite this challenge, we have worked hard to fulfill our vision of making Saint Mary's a more educated, open and comfortable environment. We would like to highlight some of the things we have done this year that were not discussed in the article.
We sponsored Faces of America, a one-woman play about multiculturalism in the United States and co-sponsored events with LaFuerza for Hispanic Heritage month, the Sisters of Nefertiti for Black History Month and Asian/Pacific Islander Club for Asian American Month.
Also, we held three discussion forums about diversity including discussions about the role diversity plays in our community, multiculturalism, racial stereotypes and approaches to combat racial prejudice.
We organized a workshop for Resident Advisors on the issue of diversity in the residence halls and the role of R.A.s in dealing with students from various ethnic backgrounds.
We have worked with Campus Ministry to conduct a survey among non-Catholic students to identify their needs. As a result, SDB is now working on a hospitality program to provide a guide to resources in the South Bend community and to organize a Big Sister/Little Sister program.
The Student Diversity Board identified places on campus that are not handicap-accessible and submitted a proposal to Residence Life to include in next year's budget.
We sponsored Operation Christmas Child, a service-project to collect gift boxes for children in third world countries and worked with the Diversity Committee of the Strategic Planning Initiative Commission to identify priorities for the College in the area of ethnic diversity.
In addition, we co-sponsored Christmas Around the World with Student Activities Board, sponsored International Women's Week in March and sponsored the Hunger Awareness Week and Disabilities Awareness Week. Finally, we sponsored Spring Picnic to take place on April 19, 2001.
Today, a year from its conception, SDB is a major board within Saint Mary's student government, with 24 members including commissioners and representatives from various organizations. Our mission is to raise awareness of diversity, celebrate the uniqueness of every individual, bring to attention issues of ethnic diversity and support minority groups on campus.
The issue of diversity is complicated and challenging. Entrenched attitudes and practices cannot be changed overnight. Our Board has undertaken an ambitious goal and we are proud to have started making a difference on our campus. We would like to thank students, faculty, staff and administration for their heartfelt support. We have yet much to do and we look forward to our second year of exciting events and activities.
The Student Diversity Board
Saint Mary's College
March 21, 2001
All Viewpoint Stories for Thursday, March 22, 2001
