In the Coalition of Color debate Sunday night, ASG candidates and student group members came to the conclusion that although multiculturalism is an ideal shared by many in the Northwestern community, practical steps still need to be taken to achieve it.
Before the debate, former South Asian Student Alliance President Purvi Shah said multicultural issues moved backward under the current Associated Student Government Executive Board. As a result, she said, every candidate would be faced with questions and issues Sunday night.
The audience of about 40 students Sunday wrote questions for ASG Executive Board candidates. Themes that emerged from the question-and-answer session included improving the Multicultural Center and the Black House, reaching out to alumni and prospective students who are members of minority groups, increasing awareness of cultural events and fostering cooperation between cultural groups.
Answering one of council members’ question, executive vice presidential candidate Art Janik said that if he had $1 million, he would spend it on renovating the Multicultural Center.
Janik said he would use a quarter of it to fix the plumbing and devote the rest to other renovations, including moving academic advising offices, so the Multicultural Center would become more than “a first floor and a basement.”
A lack of resources is one reason multicultural groups cannot expand and publicize to their full potential, he said.
“NU talks a lot about building community and diversity and they try to do that,” Janik, a Medill junior, said before the debate. “But they lack the resources and are at a disadvantage because they don’t have the same mass appeal.”
In order to give students more resources, fellow executive vice presidential candidate Srikanth Reddy said that if he had $1 million, he would use it to give student groups more funding.
“The amount of requested funds (Student Activities Finance Board) gives isn’t nearly enough,” said Reddy, a McCormick sophomore and member of SAFB, the ASG body that oversees student-group funding.
The candidates offered solutions to making the university more diverse, such as a heavier focus on recruiting minorities.
Student services vice presidential candidate Courtney Brunsfeld said minority students should help with recruiting.
“The best kind of recruiter is not an adult administrator,” said Brunsfeld, a Weinberg sophomore. “It’s a a happy minority student who can share their experiences.”
Improving minority services such as the mentoring program, along with finding an Asian-American outreach coordinator, would help improve the quality of life for many minority students on campus, the candidates said.
Many of the candidates also agreed that better communication between the campus’ cultural groups would improve NU’s climate for diversity.
Student services vice presidential candidate Jada Black said a campuswide Perspectives Day would promote an open dialogue about multiculturalism at NU. As a spring follow-up to the Diversity Conference held Fall Quarter, students would share their experiences with multiculturalism in an open-microphone format at a place such as Deering Field.
Janik said students often do not feel comfortable about attending multicultural events because multicultural groups have a tendency to be “cliquish.”
ASG should work to eliminate that perception, he said.
Reddy said co-programming between student groups would increase participation and decreased the “fractionalized” nature of NU.
Presidential candidate Jay Goyal said increasing communication between cultural student groups would help.
“I try to do that in my life everyday, ” said Goyal, a McCormick sophomore.
Academic vice presidential candidate Ebo Dawson-Andoh said that learning about other cultures, in and out of the classroom, would help to increase multiculturalism.
“America is represented by many groups, not just by one,” said Dawson-Andoh, a Weinberg sophomore. “The best way to promote understanding is education.”
