Diversity

As the semester keeps rolling, I keep on reading this great book! This chapter on "The Value of Diversity" was once again another fun one to read. I compliment the author on discussing this area of group work. Even though I feel very knowledgeable in the topic of diversity, I was still able to capture some great new ideas. For this entry of my blog series, I will discuss the role diversity could have on the current environment around me.

Just to give you all my personal background, I am a 20 year old Caucasian male who grew up in a very affluent area with minimal racial or ethnic diversity. I am German, English and Swedish but have no great sense of pride for where my ancestors came from. Even though I grew up in a non diverse area, I was able to establish connection with other groups through the guidance of my parents. My father was very vocal on serving others and I was able to interact with many different types of people during my community service(specially true at Springfield College). Of course, I have to thank my YMCA summer camp for helping me meet even more people from diverse backgrounds. The key thing that I have learned over time is that diversity means much more than religious or cultural beliefs and ethnic or racial background. These are just the particular areas of diversity that our society has chosen to concentrate the most on. This is just a reality of our society, but I will not concentrate much on this flaw.

The one area that I feel would help Springfield College grow is if there was more ethnic, religious and cultural diversity. The majority of our students are European-Americans with a Christian heritage. They have lived in the United States for their whole life, and have not grown up in a bilingual setting. The minorities primarily consist ethnically of African-Americans, Latin American, Indian or exchange students from China. The only other religion I have encountered is Judaism and unfortunately nothing else. Due to my friendliness, I have been able to locate many of these minorities and be friend them but I am not the common student. The majority of time, it is not very common to witness much interaction between the different groups that Springfield College hosts. Unfortunately, Springfield College cannot pride itself in many areas of diversity when it comes to both students and faculty.

I feel that Springfield could have an extraordinary transformation if they were able to create the possibility of real diversity on our campus. Not just diversity in our student body but also in our faculty and board. As a student, I feel like I would be able to learn so much more if I was able to discuss religion with fellow Muslim, Jewish and Christian students. Then be able to discuss ethnic and racial relations with students of all races, ethnicities and economic classes. Then go to a camp management class where I would able to hear students from a totally different areas of the country or world show off their camp facilities. Then by the time I graduate, I will have taken at least a third of myclasses with professors who are not considered part of the dominant group. I feel that this type of transformation would truly help any our college serve its mission of spirit, mind and body.

Of course I know I have singled Springfield College out during this blog entry, but I wanted it to serve as an example. This is an example of what the majority of the United State is like when it comes to not only our college environments, but also the communities our families live in. I have been able to visit many communities that have captured the essence of people of different backgrounds uniting. It is powerful to see how much that interaction has helped student, children and adults in the long run. People are inspired and truly realize that the world is full of possibility, not harm. Our country could learn a lot if we were able to fully capture the value of diversity.

Ten to twenty years down the line in my YMCA career, I want to be able to confidantly say that my YMCA embraces the value of diversity and what it can bring to a community.