Minor issues with diveorsity

Today is Spirit Day, St. X’s first fun day of the year. We’re supposed to have fun doing whatever we want, except…

THIS IS A MANDATORY MEETING!

…The Office of Multicultural Affairs will host it’s [sic] first Annual Kick-off party. We wwill have free pizza and drinks, as well as, some free gift items and games.

Why

We need to network

Where

Theater

When

11:30 Friday

Different Individuals Valuing Each Other Regardless of Skin, Iintellect, Talent or Years.

Now that’s diversity!

Indeed. But it’s usually spelled without the o.

Today’s meeting had a number of inherent flaws. Such as supposedly being about “diversity,” except that it featured an incredible number of African-Americans, a few Asian-Americans, even fewer Hispanic Americans, and absolutely no diversity.

Note to the administration: if you claim that a group has diversity, please, please include minorities of another kind. This meeting was great in that it showed the strength of the racial minority at St. X, but not only did it marginalize the minor minorities (such as the Asian- and Hispanic Americans); it also excluded religious and national minorities.

For example, my friend Richard is a Protestant – a real minority at the school. And my friend Harrison is even more of a minority: he’s a dual-citizen (American-British); there’s only one of those at the school. But they were both excluded. I was really tempted to drag them along to the meeting. To make a point.

I was almost offended by today’s meeting. I was singled out as a minority, forced to go to a meeting which wasted my time, and then marginalized as a minor minority. And I had to wait an incredible amount of time for one small slice of the free pizza they promised. Can you say gimmick?

This wasn’t the first time I had to attend a meeting of this sort during Spirit Day. The long-defunct API group had its first meeting during Spirit Day 2001. And they promised pizza. And it never came.

This is a recurring nightmare. Diversity isn’t about singling people out. It’s about recognizing that everyone is different.

The administration loves these sort of events. I beg to differ.