How to Make Sure You Have a Diverse College Experience

Lauren Jones* recalls a moment at Antioch College when she truly learned the meaning of the word diversity. “I was working for the school paper,” she says, “and we were doing a special issue on spirituality. We’d included the Wiccans, the Buddhists, and the Taoists. But there was a writer there who was a fundamentalist Christian and he wanted to write about his experience. The staff said ‘no,‘ claiming that Christianity shouldn‘t be included because it was ‘an oppressive, patriarchal religion.‘ I convinced them to run it, but I realized then that I wasn’t at the right school. I was at a school that had mistaken ‘liberalism’ for diversity. They’d truly gone full circle, so far Left they’d met the Right.”

Expanding Your Clique and Opening Your Mind

While many of us define diversity as including everyone, not all college campuses define it this way. Neither do all students. Truth be told, in the back of all of our minds diversity often means “a group that includes people like me,” whether that’s your particular geography, nationality, race, gender, or set of political and spiritual beliefs. And while we all need that sense of belonging -- to be with people who see things the way we do -- diversity isn’t the word for it.

Wendy Beckman, former diversity instructor and consultant, puts it this way: "Diversity includes everyone -- the people you're scared to talk to, harbor resentment toward, and generally dislike. It also includes the people you think you understand. I once bought a fabulous bumper sticker which said, ‘Don’t assume I share your prejudices.’ And if you‘re liberal and think you‘re the poster child for diversity, be aware that diversity also includes Republicans. Diversity includes Whites, males, Christians -- it includes all of us. You might find that you have more in common with the person who on the surface seems to be the least like you."

Taking a Cue from Obama

When President Obama was at Harvard Law School, his liberal friends were disappointed when they found out that he‘d sometimes go drinking with “the conservatives.” Not only that, when he was elected president of the Harvard Law Review, he published articles from these conservatives in the journal. While some of his liberal friends saw it as a betrayal, Obama saw it as an opportunity to see a variety of viewpoints and become friends with a wide range of people. No doubt it was this open-minded attitude that helped make him one of the most popular political leaders on campus and later president of the United States.

If you want a well-rounded college experience so you can become a well-rounded person, consider taking a cue from Obama and “reaching across the aisle.” No matter what sector you end up working in after graduation -- corporate, nonprofit, or education -- when you get your first job, you’re going to encounter people who are different from you. And you’ll have to communicate with them on a daily basis. There’s no better time to do get over this awkwardness than while you’re still in school.

Join One Group Your Freshman Year that Scares You. Take a moment and think about the people who make you feel the most uncomfortable -- whether that happens to be women, gay men, Latinos, Republicans, or sorority girls. Next, find out where they hang out. Join one of their groups or attend some of their meetings and parties -- assuming they’ll let you -- purely so you can understand them better.

Ideally, getting to know this group will help you overcome your judgments and even get to know yourself on a deeper level. Clearly, it can be awkward and a bit daunting to go to meetings for groups that are only for a particular race, nationality, or gender -- when it’s not yours. But if you’re a guy who wants to better understand feminism, that’s exactly what you’ll have to do -- show up at a female-dominated campus feminist group. Consider introducing yourself this way: “I’m not sure I’m a feminist, but I’m here because I want to understand feminism. Can you help me do this?” If the group is open-minded, they’ll embrace you. It can be an excellent opportunity for communication and become a great relationship. But they might also reject you, particularly when they hear you’re not a self-proclaimed feminist. If they’re not strong enough to handle diversity and opinions that don‘t match their own, they’ll ask you to level. But if you’re rejected by a group like this, don’t take it personally. Move on to another.

Another strategy is to simply become involved in helping with a group’s events, or becoming you‘re trying to understand -- but revolve around other interests, not nationalities or philosophies.
Take a class you don’t agree with or understand. If you consider yourself sexist, take women in literature or a feminist theory class. If you’re from rural Ohio, and only went to school with two Black people, take an African-American literature class. If you’re a fundamentalist Christian, take Eastern religion. Seeing another culture or way of looking at life can deepen your relationship with your own culture and beliefs. It may also change them.
Listen to newscasts from the “other side.” Maybe you’re a liberal and the idea of watching Fox news makes your heart skip a beat. Now would be a good time to get involved in groups that seem to have a lot of Asian-Americans, Latinos, women -- whichever group you've had the least exposure to. One day, you may work at a corporation that’s 60 percent Republican. So turn on the TV and see what happens. What bothers you the most? What do you actually agree with? What good can you find? What does their delivery have in common with the newscasters on MSNBC? You may find that it’s not as different as you think.
Volunteer to help a group you hold stereotypes about or know nothing about. Maybe you’ve always made fun of old people or never spent much time around little kids. Consider volunteering at a nursing home or a daycare center. Get to know this group that’s always eluded you, and see how moving out of your comfort zone can make you more open to the new experiences and ideas that college offers.
Befriend someone of a different race or culture. To really expand your definition of who‘s a friend/who‘s not a friend, get to know someone of a different race, age or culture. Maybe someone in your class or dorm. Don’t begin by asking questions about their race, generation or culture; many people find this offensive and it may reveal stereotypes you didn’t realize you had. Simply befriend them in the same way you would anyone else -- by making small talk.

Becoming Who You Were Meant to Be

While this exercise in diversity might seem unimportant today, in the end it might be the one thing you remember most about your college experience. It also might help define you. College is the time to be courageous -- the older you get, the harder this becomes. So take advantage of your youth and question your assumptions and boundaries now. It can only help you become a more well-rounded person -- the person you were meant to be.

*This name has been changed to protect the privacy of interviewees.