Piscataway Nation singers and dancers performed as part of FIU's American Heritage Celebration. The weeklong activities reviewed some of the country's history and traditions and showed how America was formed and is still being transformed by diverse ethnicity and multicultural communities.
Keeping Peace
Student group encourages diversity
Webster's Dictionary defines diversity as "difference or variety." To me, diversity contains an even deeper meaning -the combination of diverse and university. That is what Florida International University stands for. As an undergraduate student, I was exposed to many aspects of diversity on FIU's campus, from the different cultural programs to the different music. I was exposed to a mosaic of cultures.
Because of this, I yearned for more and decided to be active instead of just being a witness. In the first year of graduate school, I joined PEACE (Peer Educators Advocating Cultural Enhancement). This group educated me on racial differences and social issues that I would not have experienced in the classroom. It has tested my knowledge about different cultures and challenged my prejudices. Most importantly, my exposure to diversity through PEACE has not only educated me, but also the students with whom I come into contact at FIU.
As a PEACE member, I have the opportunity to facilitate diversity workshops. The reward comes after the workshop when students approach me and thank me for what they learned, which will be beneficial the next time they encounter a situation, an individual, or an environment different from their own. The reward also comes from their comments, including a demand for more diversity workshops that challenge their thoughts and beliefs and cultural programs that give them a chance to view life from different points of view. Unfortunately, not all students are the same. Some just choose to ignore issues of diversity and live life blindly, ignoring the rich differences in others.
That is why I think diversity programs like PEACE should be a primary component in the University's goals and beliefs. Although this campus is a part of a tossed salad city, I regret to say that I have experienced prejudice or discrimination as a student. We cannot annihilate hate, but we can surely counteract it through education. By providing events like Diversity Day or the countless diversity workshops on campus, FIU can live up to its name and continue to open not only eyes, but hearts and minds as well.
-Mark Martell
"Not only should students be enlightened to the existence of diversity, but they should also learn to immerse themselves in it, no matter where it may be found."
Mark covers some very interesting points, but we could not be true proponents of diversity unless we gave another perspective. My experience with diversity has been rather unlike that of Mark and, in some ways, I believe it has given me a deeper appreciation for who I am and the variance that now surrounds me at FIU. This is primarily because my undergraduate years were spent in a state where differences are not nearly as obvious as they may be in South Florida. I have learned to appreciate every nuance in others as a part of my experience with diversity.
I sincerely believe I gained the best foundation for acceptance by being in this environment. Being immersed in a wealth of differences during my childhood years could only be cherished by the realization that not everyone has the privilege of such a background. This is my goal in being a part of the University Diversity Initiative. Not only should students be enlightened to the existence of diversity, but they should also learn to immerse themselves in it, no matter where it may be found.
My hope is to awaken students to the fact that they live in a treasure chest that abounds in variation and which should be celebrated. They may have to journey to a more homogeneous community in order to gain a true grasp of Miami's unique structure. It may take this small sacrifice to reach, in the words of Maya Angelou, "a destination where all signs tell us it is possible and imperative that we discover a brave and startling truth . . . that we are the possible, we are the miraculous, the true wonders of the world."
-Fidel Simmons
Mark Martell and Fidel Simmons are both graduate students, assistant residence life coordinators with University Housing and members of the organization PEACE (Peer Educators Advocating Cultural Enhancement). This is a volunteer group composed of FIU students, staff and faculty members who facilitate diversity workshops, dealing with issues such as age, sexual orientation, gender, race and ability throughout the FIU community.
