Its Time to Put an End to Campus Isolation

A situation on campus which I would like to see changed is not so much the increasing ethnically and racially-based separation of student clubs and organizations, but the lack of communication and exchange between them.

There are valid arguments for the various racially "isolated" clubs in that they provide a support network and common identity for students who might otherwise feel culturally marooned on a campus as large as ours. (Specifically, I feel that the "Iranian Students Club," "Armenian Americans" and "Hillel House," to name a few, all provide emotional support to students away from home and their native culture.)

Perhaps one could even justify racial-based separation within an area of common interest on the grounds that common racial and cultural ties promote even better understanding within a common sub-group. I refer specifically to the fact that there is a "Student Business Association (almost exclusively white), a "Black Student Business Association" (exclusively black), and a "Chicano Student Business Association (exclusively Chicano). Now, all three of the aforementioned share the "common" distinction of business students, yet they choose to sub-divide further. It can be argued that valuable contacts leading to post-graduate employment are made through these clubs; it can be argued that Chicano or Black students have problems not usually affecting whites (such as being victimized by racial discrimination on a conscious or unconscious basis, or a poorly-educated "inner city school" background; it can also be argued that these racially-divided clubs arose in response to insensitivity and non-accommodation by the earlier-existing predominantly white clubs.

What I personally cannot justify is the lack of communication and exchange of services between these types of organizations. This lack of exchange results in wasted resources through duplication of services, increased social (racial) separation, misunderstandings, and what I refer to as "hardening of the attitudes."

Why is it necessary that there be three separate accounting tutoring labs -- each staffed separately by each club? Why are all Charity Fundraisers done on an individual group basis? Why are there no "joint" club parties?

The potential for duplication and misunderstandings is obvious -- less obvious is the "hardening of the attitudes." If a person grows up in a racially or culturally isolated neighborhood, it is possible he will attend K-12 still in racial isolation. College is usually the "last chance" to reformulate attitudes and discard stereotypes for these persons. And if a person is isolated in college, what chance is there for growth of understanding and communication? This, to me, is the crux of the problem -- not the (valid) existence of the separated clubs, but that they are so self-contained as to allow almost complete insulation from the attitude-stretching that comes of mixed social interaction. Every culture (majority or minority) is valid by definition, and deserving of preservation. Every group has a right to bond together in common identity. But in our diverse society, we must learn to work together, even while retaining our individuality, and to learn how is a process that takes time and effort. I feel that the excessive insulation (through "comfortable shelter")

provided by the non-interaction of these groups short-circuits this learning process, laying the foundation for continued future racial and culture misunderstanding and separation.