On Wednesday afternoon, over 175 students and faculty gathered in the Quinnipiac Center for Communications and Engineering auditorium to participate in an open forum regarding the issue of inclusion on campus. This event comes in the wake of multiple negative events occurring in the past few weeks, such as racist language being used in the dorms and a professor tweeting her discontent with Chick-fil-A on campus, which became an outlet for hateful commentary on Twitter.
Pictured (left) Kevin Parker director of health and wellness, (middle) Vice President and Provost Jennifer Brown, (right) Elyssa Wrubel, senior english major.
“I do think it was helpful in the sense of informing students as there were topics discussed today that I know other students didn’t know as well as myself,” said Tyler McNeil a junior public relations major. “Most notably for me was that I was unaware that faculty here did not have ‘clock stop’ with their tenure.”
The “Clock stop” policy that McNeil mentions is when a school allows faculty and staff to stop the clock on their way to achieving tenure. This would be beneficial if professor or staff member fell extremely ill, or had to leave for maternity/paternity leave. Right now Quinnipiac does not have this policy in place so if a professor were to have to leave, their eligibility for tenure would be in jeopardy.
This was the email sent to the entire student body regarding the racist language used in the dorms.
This was the email sent to all students, faculty and staff inviting them to this open forum, discussing the topic of inclusion.
On top of the discussion regarding clock stop, around five students and seven faculty members stood up in front of the room and voiced their concern about different topics of inclusion on campus. These ranged from the LGBTQIA community, racial minorities being underrepresented, religious discrimination, handicap accessibility and more executive support for faculty and staff when it comes to school policy.
Specifically, Austin Calvo, the student government president spoke about the issues when it comes to ADA violations on campus and how the schools SGA has tried in the past to fix inaccessible pathways to buildings and residential halls.
A sociology professor, Jim Buccini, voiced his unhappiness with how unwelcoming this campus feels to students of minority races. He used his son’s experience of touring the campus and how at the end of the tour he absolutely did not want to attend Quinnipiac and was disappointed that his father taught at such an uninviting school.
Another student, Andrew DePass, a junior Biology & Computer Science major also talked about the issues of race on campus and discussed the toxic academic environment many minority students face in class. He said that this feeling is created when professors allow students of the majority to use their freedom of speech to say things that immediately make minorities feel inferior and/or alienated.
This open discussion is a product of Quinnipiac President Judy Olian’s strategic plan, which pushes the importance of diversity and inclusion in a competitive and creative work force, but for the past few weeks, Quinnipiac’s community has not been living up to its ideals.
Over a week ago, an email was sent to the student body from the university’s Office of Residential Life about racist language and actions being used in the dorms. The director of Residential Life, Mark DeVilbiss, stated in his email, “The university is committed to a culture of inclusion, openness and civility and is strongly opposed to discriminatory words and actions.”
Then two weeks before the email was sent, journalism professor Margarita Diaz expressed her discontent on Twitter with the use of Chick-fil-A on campus, due to their non-inclusive beliefs. The tweet blew up and users began attacking her and the community. The school newspaper also published an opinion piece that took her view and twisted it into something very different from the original intent of her comment.
This is the packed CCE Auditorium as faculty, staff and students listened intently.
After the constructive conversation concluded, Don Sawyer ended the discussion by promising there will be more open forums throughout the year and that over time, there will be change.
Vice President Don Sawyer addresses the crowd and helps lead the discussion on inclusivity on campus.
“When changing campus culture an hour is not gonna do it, a year might not even do it, but it will happen over time,” said Sawyer.
The university recognizes the need to advance inclusion initiatives in strategic plan proposal.
By Caitlin Fish
Abby Marton experienced a self-described culture shock when she arrived at Quinnipiac University in 2016 and found that the school did not reflect the world she understood.
“Coming here there was a culture shock on every level,” Marton said. “I noticed a lack of diversity right away. When I first got here I worried that I wouldn’t fit in. Everyone seemed tied together from home, there are mutual friends everywhere.”
Abby Marton, 21
Marton, a senior marketing major from Manhattan, New York, explained that she attended a diverse high school, The Bronx High School of Science, which exposed her to many different cultures and ways of seeing the world. Quinnipiac, in Hamden, Connecticut, did not reflect that diversity.
“I wouldn’t say white was the minority at my high school but it definitely wasn’t the majority,” Marton said. “I learned a lot about different people’s families and backgrounds, whether that be food, language or religion. It was just so immersive.”
Isaiah Nieves, a senior film major from Manchester, Connecticut, likewise noticed the sharp distinction between what he experienced in a high school teeming with racial and ethnic diversity and what he saw at Quinnipiac.
Nieves explained that he grew up around racial and class diversity and that he compares his experience attending high school to attending Quinnipiac as night and day.
“Considering that this school is a private school, it’s going to attract a certain crowd of people who can afford it,” Nieves said. “There is not much diversity on campus at all.”
Isaiah Nieves, 22
Marton and Nieves are not alone in describing Quinnipiac as an institution that is lacking in diversity. The school remains largely white despite efforts to shape the student body into one that reflects the changing demographics of the United States.
According to a U.S. Census Bureau report from 2018, the United States is projected to continue becoming a more racially and ethnically pluralistic society. By 2045 Non-Hispanic whites are no longer projected to make up the majority of the U.S. population.
“By 2020, fewer than one-half of children—49.8 percent—are projected to be Non-Hispanic white,” the report states.
Students find that the troubling lack of diversity extends to the people who teach them and keep the university operating.
An informal survey sent out by email to Quinnipiac students who belong to multicultural organizations on campus revealed that 70 percent noticed that lack of diversity in the faculty and staff.
“I think the professors are less racially diverse than the student body,” Issac Bauer, a junior communications major from White Plains, New York, said. “It makes me happy to see that there are a lot of women professors, but in education, it is important to have teachers of all different backgrounds.”
Isaac Bauer, 20
According to data on racial demographics cataloged on the university’s website, white students make up three-quarters of the undergraduate population, while data obtained by HQ Press from a faculty member who requested to remain anonymous reports that white faculty members make up more than three-quarters.
Pie charts outlining the racial demographics of the undergraduate population and fall 2018 full-time faculty at Quinnipiac.
Bar graph outlining the racial demographics of 2018 full-time faculty members by school.
Students have mixed opinions regarding the university’s attempts to increase diversity on campus. The informal survey of Quinnipiac students reports that 57 percent have noticed efforts by the university to increase diversity while 42 percent have not.
Quinnipiac President Judy Olian references diversity as a transformative element in her strategic plan proposal released in January to build what she described as a “university of the future.”
The plan recognizes that Quinnipiac needs to improve in that area.
“We are not yet where we need to be as an inclusively excellent institution–not in faculty or staff, not in students or alumni, not in programming,” the strategic plan states. “We aspire to be more.”
The university appointed Donald C. Sawyer III as chief diversity officer in 2018. Sawyer, a Quinnipiac sociology professor, is tasked with advancing diversity and inclusion initiatives and putting in place action steps to get there.
“My job is to create a plan that partners with other people on campus to do the work of inclusive excellence,” Sawyer said. “The role is to work as a community, that’s faculty, staff and students, to bring about a campus that is inclusive for all people. Some people assume that my job is just here for students of color. That’s not it. It’s for all people.”
According to Sawyer, one of the ways the university is planning to address this lack of representation in the faculty is by diversifying its applicant pools when hiring for a new position.
“We have to be looking at ways to diversify our applicant pools, he said. “Not necessarily telling people who to hire. But, how do we make sure that when we are hiring for a position that the pool is representative of the diversity that exists in that particular discipline.”
Sawyer explained that not every school has a chief diversity officer, but he expects the position to become more common as it is important for universities to increase diversity and inclusion in order to stay competitive.
“Universities see that diversity is not just about doing it because it’s a good thing and feels good, it is to make sure they’re going to be the universities that survive,” Sawyer said. “To prepare so that they’re not going to be behind the curve. If you look at the students that are coming, you have to prepare for that representative diversity that we’re seeing in the K-12.”
Sawyer explained that a big part of his job is educating students about the differences between the terms diversity, inclusion and equity because a lot of people use them interchangeably.
“When we talk about diversity, we’re just talking about the representative, the numbers,” he said.
Inclusion goes hand in hand, as it is the active engagement with that diversity.
“Getting people here is pointless if you don’t have anything in place to make people feel welcomed and a part of the campus community,” he said.
The equity aspect is more complicated, as it works to remove obstacles and improve access for underrepresented students, according to Sawyer.
Xi Chen, associate professor of sociology at Quinnipiac, said she believes a historical denial of education for underrepresented students and weak points in the U.S. education system both contribute to the lack of diversity at the university.
Chen explained that public schools are funded by local and property taxes, so schools in poor or urban areas do not receive as many resources or as much funding as they do from affluent neighborhoods. In order to become a college student, you have to have been prepared along the way to even be able to apply, and many under-resourced schools do not deliver in this aspect.
“Students from the under-resourced schools are competing against the students in resource schools for the same seats in colleges,” Chen said. “If you have those obstacles in the way the system is set up for some people to be more successful than others.”
Chen said that she believes even with financial aid and scholarships, the cost of tuition prevents a more diverse applicant pool.
“Tuition for this university is very expensive and is geared toward New England North-Eastern upper-middle-class,” Chen said. “There is a huge racial gap in terms of what type of family can afford it due to social inequality in class and wealth.”
Although the university lacks in representative diversity, some students believe it is beginning to make inclusion a priority.
According to the informal survey of Quinnipiac students, 73 percent of respondents said they believe the university supports an inclusive environment.
The university has 17 student-run cultural and identity groups on campus that frequently hold events, open to everyone, aimed at educating students about different cultures, religions and ways of seeing the world.
Christina Ojo, a junior biology major from Providence, Rhode Island, is involved in many of these groups, including the African Caribbean Student Union, Black Student Union, Latino Cultural society and the Asian Student Alliance. However, she said that she does not believe the greater population of Quinnipiac recognizes these organizations.
“I don’t think Quinnipiac does enough to even get at why these organizations are important,” Ojo said. “I appreciate that we are, at the very least, here. I think the responsibility of educating is left to the students of diverse realities. It’s gaslighting.”
Christina Ojo, 20
Chidi Nwuneli, a junior political science major from the Bronx, New York, has attended many university events put on by the multicultural organizations but does not believe many students respond to the invitations.
“Quinnipiac does try (to be more inclusive) but I feel like students aren’t receptive because it’s not something they grew up around,” Nwuneli said.
Chidi Nwuenli, 20
Diversity on campus is not just about having students of color, according to Nwuenli. It is also about having students who have grown up around students of color because then there will be more diversity in thought.
“Accepting of change is hard, so I think it more falls upon where they’re recruiting people from,” Nwuenli said. “I heard President Olian said she wants to recruit more people from Florida, Texas and California. When you have more people from urban centers mixing with people who are from mid-sized small-sized towns, people start to become more open-minded and friend groups become more diverse.”
According to the informal survey of Quinnipiac students, 64 percent of respondents said they do not believe the general student population is interested in learning about diversity and inclusion.
Anytime Quinnipiac wants to get something done, such as the Big Event or Qthon, it uses Greek Life, according to Nwuenli. He said that he believes the multicultural organizations should belong in this partnership.
“Greek organizations should work with the multicultural organizations, it’s something that I’ve been saying since freshman year,” he said. “That’s the only way you can have exposure for both of them. If there is an event hosted by a sorority and the African Student Union, both groups will be there and you get to meet new people and create those bonds.”
Julia Miles, a junior nursing major from Oakland, New Jersey, said she believes that a majority of the students at the university do not seek out information about diversity and inclusion because it does not affect them directly.
“I think the school could integrate this type of education into the academic experience because most students who are not underrepresented won’t pay attention unless it is put in front of their faces,” Miles said.
Julia Miles, 20
Miles explained that in her nursing classes aspects of diversity and inclusion are incorporated into many of her projects.
“It’s clear that our program wants to create nurses that are aware of the world,” Miles said. “When doing projects, there is a component that requires us to include some cultural or religious factors that may affect treating the patient.”
There are many benefits to a diverse atmosphere and the students at Quinnipiac may be missing out on opportunities to become more aware of the world, according to Marton.
“It’s a huge way for people to connect, to diversify your school of thought even, Marton said. “It’s so unhealthy and ignorant to think that the way you grew up and what you know and what you’re familiar with is the only way to do things. You’re missing out on literally an entire world of different experiences and it’s a shame.”
Increasing diversity on campus is not just about doing something for the greater good, it is necessary for an environment to thrive, Sawyer said.
“It benefits all who are involved,” Sawyer said. “When we have diverse teams we solve more problems. We can attack more issues that are facing us as a society. So it goes beyond just something that feels good. This is important for the future of our institution.”
The university is in the process of putting numbers to the strategic plan, developing a budget and a fundraising goal, according to Sawyer.
“We’re looking at creating different types of admissions and outreach programs to get Quinnipiac on the radar in different parts of the country,” Sawyer said. “We’re looking at different types of student populations, veterans, people who have been historically underrepresented in higher education, people who transfer from community colleges. Diversifying faculty and staff in order to attract more people.”
Quinnipiac has been criticized for catering to its white population while disregarding the needs of underrepresented students. According to Sawyer, the university is on a path to changing this.
“If you want to see if something is important to an organization you look at the budget. So, the fact that inclusive excellence is in the strategic plan is one of the first markers that let you know hopefully were serious about this,” Sawyer said.
A group of millennial-aged college students sat in a dull blue-lit room surrounded by people they thought were strangers. Their professor had an accent: English with a Spanish twang. She asked the students to introduce themselves as if they were meeting her for the first time.
Students introduced themselves by describing their positions in extracurricular activities, hometowns, family backgrounds, favorite animals and what they liked to do for fun.
The responses turned strangers into neighbors, relatives and classmates; each finding a commonality between them. They were students, journalists, Italians, Americans, animal-lovers, travelers, males, females, humans.
It seemed easy for them to identify with a category to define themselves for an introduction. They defined who they were according to labels, titles and interests. But when asked to define American culture, it was blank stares and gaping mouths.
But it is precisely that attempt at defining their own culture that presents the biggest challenge. It is a challenge not just faced by university students. More than 10 people interviewed struggled to come up with a satisfactory definition of American culture.
Well what does America consist of demographically?
The United States of America. The states. The home of the brave. The red, white, and blue. Whatever you decide to call it, 327.5 million people call it home.
Data from the United States Census Bureau 2018 annual report.
According to the Census Bureau, most people in the United States are classified as white.
However culturally Americans consider the United States a diverse country.
Regardless of race and other demographics, Americans are mothers, fathers, workers, immigrants, activists and humans. But what brings together these individuals and how does this create a common culture?
Our culture is the way we connect, but how is American culture defined?
Let’s break it down piece by piece.
What is culture?
Culture is not clearly defined because it encompasses a wide variety of ideas. There are so many factors that contribute to the definition that the Merriam-Webster dictionary has more than six definitions for the word “culture.” If the authors of the dictionary can’t create one cohesive definition, then can we?
The main definition for culture is, “the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group,” according to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary.
Jason Burke, a 53-year-old Navy veteran and the Director of Veteran and Military Affairs at Quinnipiac University, was one of many who had trouble finding the right words to define culture.
What is an American?
“Depends… North American, Central American, South American?” asked Dr. Jorge Freiman, a 54-year-old Latino anesthesiologist and former captain in the United States Air Force living in Houston, Texas.
Freiman was born and raised in Argentina and moved to the United States in 1971 when he was six years old. He is a father, husband, doctor, veteran and Jewish-American.
Freiman is one of the many immigrants that make up what it supposedly means to be an American.
In the United States, there are roughly 44.5 million immigrants living stateside which equals to about 13.7 percent of all Americans, according to the Migration Policy Institute. One in seven United States residents is foreign-born, according to data provided by the American Community Survey.
But does this data support the notion that the United States is a “melting pot” of immigrants and cultures?
The Melting Pot
The phrase “melting pot” came into popular use in 1908 when a play titled The Melting Pot highlighted the life of a Russian-Jewish immigrant family. The family created an “American Symphony” as they looked to live in a society free from ethnic divisions and hatred in the United States. The play popularized the idea of melting as a metaphor for ethnic assimilation, with the coined phrase “melting pot” representing American culture.The play popularized the term “melting pot,” but in today’s climate, the “American Symphony” as described in the early 1900s is not harmonic but elusive.
“I would call it a melding pot, because melting implies a homogeneous mix versus melding, [which] is smooshed together, but of varying consistencies,” Freiman said.
How do we define ourselves? Are we a melting pot or a salad?
In 2019 it seems the term “melting pot” needs to be updated as it may not be an accurate representation of Americans or American culture.
Don Sawyer, the chief diversity officer at Quinnipiac University, found it difficult to prioritize how he would define himself in three sentences or less. His response highlighted the categories he identified with the most.
Sawyer is no stranger to the word diversity, and recognizes the importance of preserving individual identities in a “melting pot.”
Americans pride themselves on being diverse with labels, categories and identities. Ultimately it is our differences and prejudices that create inner tension and divisions.
“I don’t think there is just one American culture. I think our culture is a collection of various subcultures that can differ drastically,” said Alexis Ali, a 32-year-old working professional woman who is white. “The ‘American’ culture shared by Hawaiian surfers is different than the second generation among immigrant communities in Minneapolis.”
Those categories, or subcultures, have inherent biases based on individual backgrounds and historical contexts. You are white, he is black, she is Jewish, he is Puerto Rican, she is an immigrant, he is a Muslim.
Struggles within American culture?
American culture cannot be defined in one single definition because it is individualized. It is a culmination of socioeconomic factors that work for and against one another. It is groups, labels and boxes, but do they all mix?
“I don’t think [melting pot] is accurate because it’s not a complete melting pot, it’s like single pots,” said Roswitha (Rose) Ladue a 61-year-old German immigrant married to an American veteran who has been living and working in the United States for almost 40 years. “We have single pots– you’re either in this pot or in this pot. We don’t have a whole group that combines everybody, that takes everybody into account. When we talk about including people, it’s certain groups, not all groups.”
Roswitha Ladue
“It doesn’t matter when you came to the United States, we are all immigrants, but there are certain things that are presumed because you have a certain history from your ethnicity.”
Although Ladue is an American by the definition of a green card, her integration into American culture could not be described as easy or comfortable. She knew that marrying an American soldier meant facing the assumptions regarding her German heritage.
“It was a clash in some ways because people did not greet me warmly. ‘Oh, you’re from Germany,’ they said. You were either a novelty, or they said, ‘Oh, what did you do when Hitler was in?’ Because they did not know my history,” Ladue said.
From some perspectives, you don’t have to be an immigrant to feel like an outsider. Historically speaking, dating back to the formation of the United States, there has been civil unrest, much of it related to racial and ethnic differences and biases.
Clifford Burnett, a 65-year-old black male from Springfield, Massachusetts, explains that American culture in today’s day and age is reflective of the struggles of the civil rights movement. Despite the progress made over the years, the political climate has rekindled the divisions that many thought were resolved.
“The current political environment has, in my opinion, pushed us back to the 40’s mentality,” Burnett said.
Clifford Burnett
“From my perspective, as soon as Mr. Obama was elected that’s when things started going reverse. I’m hearing words and things I haven’t heard since I was a child. Thought all those attitudes were gone but unfortunately they’re still there.”
Burnett is not the only one who feels the shift in American culture over the past few years.
What unites Americans?
Despite the political climate, gender, class and racial divisions, historical backgrounds and prejudices, there is still a force that unites us as American people.
The greatest adversities and tragedies have proven to be catalysts for unity and change.
For Burke, this can be both positive and negative.
“I think sometimes when you get leadership that may be questionable, that really changes things and gets people actually talking or yelling at each other, then maybe eventually that talking changes things in the future,” he said. “So sometimes something less desirable happens but it turns out to be beneficial in the long run.”
Above all our titles, labels and boxes that create our individuality, the force that unites us is the title of being an American.
What brings Americans together are shared values.
Being an American means having the same basic freedoms. What brings other cultures to America is the potential to enjoy these freedoms.
The idea of the American dream is life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and it is the heartbeat of the American people.
What unites Americans is the power of individuality and the ability to be who you want to be with the freedom to express it.
Being an American means fighting for what you believe in even if you are the only one.
Being an American means creating unity through diversity.
So what is American culture?
American culture cannot be summed up into a single definition because it is individualized.
The titles, categories, and boxes checked are the culminating factors that define our individual cultures. The diversity in America is how we identify ourselves within American culture.
What makes American culture unique is that we all identify as Americans despite our differences and perceptions of what it means to be an American.
“I believe that American culture can not be summed up in just one definition as it depends on each individual’s perception on what it means to be American,” said Adam Beyer, a 27-year-old finance and operations associate from South Hadley, Massachusetts. “Individualism is an important part of being American that we are free to choose what to believe in and how to think.”
American culture is a working definition that calls upon all of us to create our interpretation.
Two years ago on Sept. 19, Quinnipiac University exploded with controversy as a Snapchat circulated the campus. The snap included an image of a caucasian female student with a black-colored face mask on. The caption read, “black lives matter.”
The university faced major backlash as the image hit mainstream news media and officials tried to keep the image from being a representation of the school. The student who took the picture and wrote the caption left the school, and the student in the photo was left trying to rebuild her reputation.
And faculty, staff, and students had to determine how to promote a more diverse culture where this would never be an issue again.
Fast forward to today, university administrators say they have spent the last two years working on different ways to bring a more diverse mix of people to campus and to build an environment where students and staff feel they belong and are respected.
Yet even with the university trying to promote diversity and inclusion, many students and staff still say there’s more work to be done.
Chief Diversity Officer Don Sawyer said whenever people talk about an inclusive campus, people tend to only focus on students of color and that’s not what inclusive excellence is about.
“Inclusive excellence is about making sure that your campus is welcoming to all people,” Sawyer said. “We want to build a campus where everyone feels that they are a part of this Bobcat nation.”
“When we make the campus a welcoming space, it’s not just for those who are underrepresented or those who are marginalized, it creates a campus environment where everyone feels welcomed.”
Sawyer says inclusion and diversity are considered a “hot button topic,” and that people often don’t want to talk about things of that nature.
“Some people are afraid to talk about the topic, because some people think ‘ok if I talk about race people are going to think I’m a racist, you know I don’t want to say the wrong thing if I say the wrong thing people are going to smear my name.’”
“When we talk about inclusion people say we want to increase the number of underrepresented people on campus, but we have to talk about what does it mean once they get here,” Sawyer said. “So if the campus is not prepared for the increase, then I think the increase doesn’t make sense.”
“So we have to work with one another to create a campus that’s welcoming to everyone and then we can actually start talking about inclusion.”
Sawyer also explained that inclusion works when people have dialogue, interaction and perspective taking.
“If we have dialogue and then we have intentional forums, intentional programs, intentional opportunities with people to interact during that dialogue interaction. We are able to understand the perspective of others,” Sawyer said. “Understanding the perspective of others, understanding the reality of others, it broadens our mindset, it broadens our scope. Just because something is not our reality doesn’t mean that it’s not a reality.”
The Quinnipiac Bias Incident Response Team (QBIRT) reviews reports submitted by students online. The team looks at the reports to see if there’s a need for an investigation.
“What we’re going to be doing is to have an online submission portal where you can submit things whether it’s for Title IX, sexual harassment or bias incident or things of that nature where it will be a one stop shop for you to get educated,” Sawyer said. “It will also be a space where you can report anonymously.”
Edgar Rodriguez, chief of public safety, also admits that diversity and inclusion problems on campus still exist, but that the entire university continues to work on these issues.
“I think it’s very important to have those discussions and collaborate with different organizations and different students and get to the bottom of it,” Rodriguez said.
“You have to get people involved. You can’t do it on your own. This is not a public safety issue. This is not a Res Life issue. This is a community issue.”
Rodriguez says he plans to create a Community Partnership Advisory Board, a diverse group that will come together to discuss public safety issues.
“What’s going on out there, and what would you like to see, and are some people being stopped at gates, some are not?” said Rodriguez.
A quote from Chief of Public Safety Edgar Rodriguez
He wants to include faculty, a student, a member of the Student Government Association and a professor from the Criminal Justice program among others to bring a cohesive group together and have all students feeling safe and protected on campus.
“How do we handle that, how do we treat everybody the same, how does everybody be treated equally. It’s not about a color, it’s about being a human being. It’s about treating everybody with respect.”
Rodriguez wants his staff to reflect the school community and has increased the diversity ratio in his department from 4 percent to 25 percent.
Abbie O’Neill in the Department of Cultural and Global Engagement said progress is being made on making Quinnipiac more inclusive.
“There’s a large population of students who do not feel [Quinnipiac is] inclusive. I think it’s making strides to become more inclusive, but it’s not there yet,” said O’Neill, a specialist for student engagement.
She says the school has been starting to support different multicultural groups and events, which could help students feel included on campus.
“I think highlighting the multicultural student organizations as places that students can go and either learn or become a part of something is a step in the right direction,” O’Neill said.
Recent changes the school has made include opening the multicultural suite for the multicultural organizations, creating the multicultural student leadership council and, for the first time, running a multicultural welcome week. Different events were put on by multicultural organizations each day during the week, ending with the culture fair.
Senior Layomi Akinnifesi thinks campus diversity is improving slowly but surely, but that inclusion – and how comfortable students and staff are with their differences – is more of the problem.
“Everyone is in their circles and bubbles and that’s what we need to improve on,” Akinnifesi said.
For example, Akinnifesi said that the Greek organizations don’t really work with the multicultural Greek organizations, and that some students don’t see the black or Latino student unions as being for them.
Some students said they don’t think that Quinnipiac is diverse at all.
“Just walking around you can notice that it’s not a diverse campus,” sophomore Andrea Reyes said.
“This is a PWI (predominantly white institution) so a majority of my classes I’m like one of the only person of color in the class,” sophomore Esau Greene said.
Greene believes that you can see the lack of diversity on campus, but that the school is working to make changes so that all feel welcome.
“There’s a pretty big disparity, but I do believe we are working our hardest to change and create a really diverse campus,” Greene said.
Students anonymously give their thoughts on how Quinnipiac can be more diverse and inclusive
As President Olian has begun her time at Quinnipiac, university staff believes that she will push further to make the school diverse and inclusive of all.
When this school year started freshmen were brought up to York Hill campus for a welcome ceremony where President Olian – as well as Mark Thompson, executive vice president, and Don Sawyer, chief diversity officer – all discussed the administration’s goal to be an inclusive and diverse campus.
“I think with this new administration you’re going to see a lot of changes for the better and I think you’re going to see a big change in the next couple of years. I think everybody’s on board, everybody believes this is the way to go,” said Rodriguez, the public safety chief. “This is a healthy way for us to move forward.”
Hamden Mayor, Curt Balzano Leng will be hosting a “Mayor’s Night Out” event next Monday, Oct. 23. Mayor Leng will be available to citizens to informally discuss neighborhood and town wide issues. The goal of Mayors Night Out is to enrich the Mayor’s relationship with Hamden residents. The event will take place at the Board of Education Health Quarters from 6 to 8 p.m.
Culture is not a Costume
By Dorah Labatte
“My Culture is not a Costume” campaign by the Department of Cultural and Global Engagement will be hosting a kickoff event Monday, Oct. 16 at 6 p.m. in SC120. The event is an open discussion with students, faculty and staff to talk about Halloween costumes that appropriate different cultures.
Image from Google Maps
Construction on Merritt Parkway
By Katherine Koretski
Motorists will continue to experience delays while traveling on the Merritt Parkway in Connecticut this week. The Connecticut Department of Transportation (DOT) is hosting an event on Tuesday Oct. 17 to discuss the Route-7 project. The plans are to improve safety, and overall access for users. Each roadway redesign has been put under environmental scoping and screening, according to Connecticut DOT. Scoping is the first part of the process required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Tuesday’s public scoping meeting will take place in the Norwalk City Hall Auditorium, 125 East Ave. Drop-in times are between 4 to 8 p.m., and the meeting will be an open house format with informational presentations at 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
President Trump has chosen Kirstjen Nielsen for his pick to be the next secretary for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Nielsen served as General John Kelly’s chief of staff at the DHS, as well as worked as a member of the Resilience Task Force of the Center for Cyber & Homeland Security think tank. Nielsen joined the White House team in September shortly after Trump named Kelly as DHS Secretary. President Trump announced his pick for the position on Wednesday Oct. 11 at the White House.
“I promised that my highest priority would be to secure America’s homeland. I pledged to protect our country from the many threats we face from all around the world, to keep our people safe and secure at home, and to give our full support to the men and women of law enforcement,” Trump explained in a statement released by the White House.
DHS was formed in 2001 after the 9/11 attacks, according to NBC News. Its purpose was to bring multiple agencies into one place. Nielsen’s final decision will go to the Senate for final confirmation.
