The beginning of the year typically runs into the question, “What are you going to do differently this year?” Whether it’s a personal goal, or a student organization goal, oftentimes I hear the answer, “This year, we are hoping to become more diverse in our actions.” A lovely goal this is, but frankly, I have yet to see it.
Binghamton University prides itself on its vast selection of student clubs. We have organizations from Live Action Role Play to Ladies Owning their Curls, Kinks, and Straights (LOCKS) to BU Acres and many others. I typically say that at BU you don’t necessarily find students wearing their school pride gear, but you will always see somebody repping their student organization, and I view it as a positive affiliation with our campus. Yet, I believe that while our student organizations serve as a resource to the greater community, I do not find that our organizations serve as a resource to one another.
Whether you wish to admit it or not, our campus is segregated. Part of that is for more complicated societal and institutional reasons, but the other part is that we find ourselves in environments where we feel comfortable, and there is no shame in that. What is a shame is that our bubbles are not intertwining. We have a variety of religious organizations on campus that each have a specific religious concentration, yet when you step back, the events that are being held and the students that are involved share many similarities. Dance organizations throughout our campus practice day and night, each putting on their own performances at the end of the semester, yet how often do we see conjoined events?
The specific interests that our clubs specialize in is what makes this campus feel small, but our lack of interest or our fears to reach out and ask a similar club to conjoin an event is what is helping our campus stay segregated.
I am constantly shocked by students who tell me that at the end of their senior year, they are yet to befriend somebody who is unlike them. But then I remember that as a freshman, I didn’t join Hillel because I knew that if I were to start off in an environment that felt so comfortable, I would not give myself a chance to get out.
Therefore, to the presidents who said in their speeches, “This year, I want (insert student organization) to interact with a more diverse range of organizations,” do not let the ball drop.
We are a campus made up of over 13,000 undergraduates with over 400 clubs to choose from. Let us take advantage of our different interests by finding the common factor between all of us.
Sarah Saad is a senior double-majoring in human development and women, gender and sexuality studies.