Diversity allows students to appreciate one another
Diversity in colleges — and everywhere, really — helps one appreciate how unalike everyone is.
Lamont Sellers, director of the Center for Diversity & Community at the University of South Dakota, said diversity is beginning to blossom in the college setting.
“For college students, for colleges in general, we’re living in a more and more diverse world every day,” he said. “Our country is becoming more diverse.”
Having diversity at a university creates an inclusion of different races, sexual orientations, religions — the list goes on. It also gives a greater number of people from all backgrounds a better opportunity to succeed, even when it may be evident there is a dominant race at some colleges.
“In order for our students to go out and make change and be able to work in the diverse workforce that we have, it’s important for them to begin to get these experiences while they’re in college because, well, frankly, when you take USD and in the scope of South Dakota, there’s not very much diversity here,” Sellers said.
Sellers said that in terms of diversity at USD, the campus is “getting there,” and there are “efforts going on to getting there.”
Although there are efforts to foster diversity at USD, this is a process that is not progressing fast enough.
There’s more to diversity than just racial backgrounds. Sellers said the Center recognizes “a broad definition of diversity,” which includes race, age, sexual orientation and veteran status.
Of course, diversity cannot have a social impact without the assistance of a community. Experiencing different people and their backgrounds is an amazing opportunity in life.
Being around a broad range of cultures is a wonderful thing, as it teaches people about prejudices and how to avoid them, and it helps a community come together.
While diversity is important on a large inclusive scale, on another note, people are people regardless of their background or demographics, and they should not be treated any differently because of this.
People are free to recognize and appreciate the myriad of people who are not the same as them physically, but they should not see a person’s race or sexuality as their only trait.
Having organizations such as the Center for Diversity & Community helps include people of many backgrounds to feel like they are part of something.
“Diversity is being invited to the dance, but inclusion is being asked to dance,” Sellers said.
The Center for Diversity & Community makes it a point to be inclusive about diversity, rather than just realizing that it exists. With time, diversity at USD will hopefully expand and help build a stronger college community.
