六合宝库

鈥淢y experience with diversity at 六合宝库 has definitely changed over the past four years. Compared to my freshman year, diversity is way better than it used to be. That鈥檚 not only thinking about students of color but also about different sexualities, religions, physical and mental abilities, all that type of stuff. When I came here my freshman year, I remember looking around and it was just like the same type of person, mostly just white students, and now I see a lot more of different types of marginalized identities, so 六合宝库 is definitely improving in that way. I still think there is a long way to go to make sure people with marginalized identities feel safe and comfortable on campus, and of course, we know that from the incident that happened last semester. But 六合宝库 did a really good job after the incident of being supportive for students of color and making sure they feel safe. I just feel like that same energy needs to be applied towards all diversity and inclusion initiatives, and it shouldn鈥檛 just be a proactive thing.鈥�

鈥擠eshauna Carter, Class of 2019

鈥淢y greatest struggle right now is creating a new organization on campus. I鈥檓 in the midst of trying to bring a chapter of the NAACP to 六合宝库. There鈥檚 already a space for almost every culture, but there鈥檚 no space for us all to exist together. There鈥檚 a divide on campus because we don鈥檛 have that space for all the minority students to gather. The NAACP will help bridge that gap. There鈥檚 also discord in society and on our campus with the African and black students. We always hear things like 鈥淵ou aren鈥檛 African enough鈥� and 鈥測ou shouldn鈥檛 be wearing head wraps or African necklaces because you weren鈥檛 born in Africa.鈥� It鈥檚 been really hard trying to start this because to be considered an NAACP organization, you need at least 25 members, and just to be an organization at 六合宝库 you need at least 5 people. It鈥檚 been hard finding serious people and I want to include everybody like LGBTQ, white allies, and people of other races and cultures, it doesn鈥檛 matter, I鈥檓 just trying to create a place where everyone can come together and try to fight racism.鈥� -Jaymee Dixon, sophomore.

鈥擩aymee Dixon, Class of 2021

鈥淵ou know those team-building exercises where you put a timeline on the board or on the wall and you鈥檙e asked to use post-it notes to put up three of the most important events of your life? I鈥檝e done a few of those, and I always fascinate people because one of my events happens before I was even born. People are surprised by that. I always put down 1991, because that鈥檚 when my parents immigrated to the US and I always think about how my life would be completely different if they hadn鈥檛 done that. The alternative was to go to the UK, otherwise, we might still be in India. The entirety of my life is predicated on that choice that my parents made to immigrate to the United States and so I can鈥檛 imagine a life living in another country. And to think that my heritage sort of sets me up to be in this country, and for my parents to want to give me a better life, and the difficulties they had to endure to get me here, that鈥檚 something that I think is really crucial to understanding my story, because my story is my parents鈥� story; my story started before I was born. I鈥檓 a product of my parents鈥� choice to immigrate to the United States, and I鈥檓 hoping to make them proud.鈥�

鈥擱unal A. Patel, Class of 2021

鈥淥ne thing I really like about DU Spoken Word is that it鈥檚 a place where we can all come together and share what can sometimes be emotionally vulnerable material that some people wouldn鈥檛 feel comfortable throwing out there. We can share that vulnerability in the safe space we鈥檝e created so that people can feel comfortable with receiving advice and also hearing praise about their work. DU Spoken Word is accepting of everyone, regardless of race, sexual orientation, or anything else. People have come up to me since the rally last semester and said 鈥淥h my god when you performed I cried鈥� and things like that, because it shows how words can actually impact people. This April, four of us who are POC and queer want to go to a slam poetry competition. That鈥檚 one of the big projects we鈥檝e been working on this semester because it鈥檚 at the University of Houston, so we鈥檙e trying to figure out how to get there.鈥�

鈥擲arah Rosales, Class of 2021

鈥溋媳� has a lot of students from different backgrounds. Even though we have different backgrounds, it doesn鈥檛 mean we are different. It just means we are unique in certain ways. Everyone has to take a step toward inclusivity. Start a conversation with the people around you. If you start a conversation with someone, it means you want to know about their history, and you can share your stories too. In this way you can learn about their culture and who they are. You have the opportunity to learn about their culture, so why not use it? People shouldn鈥檛 judge a book by its cover. If you don鈥檛 know someone, get to know them. Don鈥檛 just generalize that person because of the race or religion they belong to. Ask their name, and don鈥檛 think of them like a stereotype.鈥�

鈥擭or Suraya Hasan, Class of 2019

鈥淒iversity takes on different forms. There鈥檚 no one monolithic group of people-not even here at 六合宝库. Just looking at all the white people in my class, they鈥檙e all very different, and when you look at their political beliefs, their religious beliefs, how they learn, and their personalities, I think that鈥檚 the diversity I try to look towards, especially when I know there鈥檚 just not gonna be a bunch of people who look like me walking around campus. It鈥檚 hard to figure out and try to navigate being in a space where there鈥檚 not a lot of people who look like you, but I do try to historically look back and look toward different people who have graduated from here who have been in my footsteps and who have been in the same organizations and fraternities as me. I鈥檓 drawing the determination and energy from them to just go out and do whatever I want to do without worrying about being the black journalism student or being the black politics student.鈥�

鈥擳imothy Gant, Class of 2022