By Dylan Chryst Watkiss
Diversity was on display at St. Lawrence University on Saturday as the week-long Latin American celebration ended with Carnival, which was put on by La Sociedad. Amid music, stilt walkers, bright costumes, and performers, SLU students got a taste of this global celebration.
Kalila Calame, a first-year student at SLU and member of the Black Student Union (BSU), attended Saturday’s celebration. She said the university shows their efforts to diversify the campus by “hosting events like this where like the whole SLU community can come join and experience each other’s cultures.”
Diversity, however, may not just be a matter of hosting events that express different cultures, like Carnival. Diversifying SLU may be a more complex issue.
Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion Kimberly Flint-Hamilton suggests that SLU aims to diversify and is on the right track, but there is still a long way to go and the problem could be finances she says. “We need to be a little bit more intentional in our recruiting. I know admissions does an extraordinary job, but one limitation of their efforts is finances,” Flint-Hamilton suggests. “If we are trying to increase the racial and ethnic diversity and the socioeconomic diversity, there is overlap in those two areas, we need more financial aid, we need access to more resources.”
Flint-Hamilton believes more money would allow the university to provide more students with scholarships and help them pay for books, which would make a huge difference.
Students indifference and lack of exposure to other cultures may also hinder diversity. Flint-Hamilton suggests that “instead of just going to those events that reflect the cultures or the values that your background reflects, going outside of that bubble and saying you know what I’ve never heard of Carnival maybe that will be a fun thing to do.” She mentioned that students who are interested in meeting and interacting with students from different cultures could join associations to learn more about these people and their backgrounds. All-in-all, students should venture out of their immediate friend groups and learn about people from around the world.
Even though St. Lawrence may not be where it could be in terms of diversity, students share the belief that St. Lawrence does actively try to be diverse. Kimberly Assi, a student at St. Lawrence University and member of groups on campus such as: Black Student Union (BSU), Carefree Black Girls, MIC, and ASU, thinks that SLU tries to be diverse by hosting events such as Carnival. “I think it is not diverse but they do try with hosting events like this, they are trying a lot” referring to Carnival, said Assi.
According to Flint-Hamilton, St. Lawrence’s student body is made up of roughly 21 percent minority students. “We have a student body that has about twelve percent domestic students of color and an additional nine percent international students so for a total of about 21, a little more than 21 percent of racial ethnic diversity,” she said.
Every time there is a diversity event happening on campus, however, it seems to be the same students attending. “One of the biggest problems we have had so far is that we hold these events but it’s the same people that always show up, the same students of color that always participate,” said student Hammi Sylla.
Co-President of La Sociedad, Carnival coordinator, and sophomore at SLU, Gabriella Diaz, agreed that the same people show up to these diversity events which does not help spread other cultures across campus. Diaz mentioned that she would like more help from the university to put on diversity events like Carnival, so that it is not just left to the students to plan them. “I wish the university would hold these kind of events on their own rather than having the students take on all those events by themselves,” Diaz mentioned.
Diaz believes that St. Lawrence’s diversity and inclusion programs are better than some other schools, but the school should not be content with that and should continue to grow. Being better than other schools “shouldn’t really be an excuse to stop building on that, I think diversity and inclusion should continue to grow all the time,” Diaz said.
Carnival celebrated many aspects of the Latin American culture. Latin American week had multiple events happening all week long, including a movie night, language lessons, and costume making for Carnival.
Flint-Hamilton encouraged students to explore other cultures, saying that college is the time to expose yourself to new people and experiences and make yourself the most cultured and best version of yourself. “You have four years here to become the best citizen and the best adult that you can be, you can use those four years to become more culturally aware and that would, I think, be more enriching for all students,” Flint-Hamilton stated.