Letter to the Editor:

Yes, the College of Charleston is a predominantly Caucasian, Southern college. Walking around campus, the majority of students I pass on a regular basis are Caucasian and, quite frankly, female. I came to C of C from Alexandria, Va., from a high school where being a white female was a minority and the majority of the student population was Hispanic, African American, Asian and Middle Eastern. I definitely went into a small-scale fit of culture shock when I started last fall and it took me a good two weeks to fully assimilate to this new, seemingly very white, environment. I am now in my second semester at the College and I can say that I was surprised by the amount of diversity I have encountered and the cultural differences I have been exposed to. Granted, the diversity I’ve encountered is nowhere close to the heavily diverse environment I grew up with back in northern Virginia, but I have instead realized a different sort of diversity that is prevalent at the College. With the school’s increasing need for tuition money, more and more out-of-state students are being accepted to the College. These-out-of state students are hailing predominantly from the northeastern and midwestern areas of the United States. C of C has a great deal of geographic diversity that is very apparent on the campus through accents, mannerisms and slang. In addition these students all have different views, sometimes contrasting to those of the native South Carolinians. This geographic range brings diversity to C of C, just not in the way most people would expect. When we talk about diversity, most of us think of racial and ethnic diversity but in truth, there is so much more to diversity than just the color of our skin. Diversity at C of C is changing and the only way our collegiate environment is going to become more culturally diverse is through its students. As a member of SGA’s Campus Diversity committee, I work toward bringing more cultural awareness and exposure to our campus through events, activities and programs. I am aware that the cultural diversity at C of C is pretty slim, but let’s take action! With the opening of the new Office of Institutional Diversity, C of C is taking steps in the right direction. Diversity is expanding and it is our job as students of the College to make the changes within the student body if we ever want the diversity on our campus to make great improvements. Over the next three weeks of February, Campus Diversity will be hosting a series called “RealTalk.” This will be a series held in the Hawkins Living Learning Center on Feb. 10, 17 and 24 at 5:30 p.m. They will be held as a moderated discussion and open forum in which students will come and discuss the nominated topic of the week. Feb. 10 is “Gender & Sexuality,” Feb. 17 is “Geography & Geographic differences,” and Feb. 24 is “Socioeconomic Status & Education.” Through these open forum discussions, Campus Diversity will moderate and stimulate the discussion in order to reveal the different ideas, opinions and thoughts of the student body. There is a lot of diversity at the College of Charleston, but it is going to take all of us to make it the best it can be. These talks will help us, as students, to understand each other and realize how different and diverse we are as people and students.