03.27.07
Who needs the Asian Students Club?
A few recent articles explore the tricky issue of ethnic clubs and other forms of “self-segregation” in colleges:
Harvard students talk about the importance of the school’s many culturally specific arts groups.
The Asian American Students Alliance of the Claremont Colleges is pushing for the creation of a multipurpose center for the students they represent — but not without some resistance from those on top.
Students at the University of Florida are rallying for an Asian American Institute, but have run into similar obstacles. (The article cites a naysaying undergrad who uses a version of the classic “We’re losing the country” argument.)
Professor Karen Suyemoto of U. Mass Boston recently spoke at Yale on the role of cultural groups on campus, among other topics.
On the question of self-segregation, Suyemoto says the issue is not that cultural groups cause divisions out of something that is united, but that the divisions are always there and must be unified.