You write of the “real strategies for bringing students together,” but so far the only strategy that CalSERVE has offered is the construction of a multicultural center.

If this post is a reflection of my character, then I am glad. My future friends, colleagues, and co-workers will at least know that I, unlike some of CalSERVE’s candidates, don’t view individuals who share my skin color as helpless victims.

First of all, how can you knock down people and whole communities for being divisive, when the whole point of your article (and magazine) is to be divisive? You have no real strategy for bringing together students from diverse communities – whose differences are real – to get beyond race, other than to ignore those differences altogether. You may have been privileged to live in a world where your background didn’t matter, but for the majority of people on earth, this is not the case. People from different communities have different experiences that are related to, but not determined by, their racial and ethnic backgrounds. The simple existence of these communities and organizations on campus is evidence of this fact. Moving towards a post-racial future will take much more than simple ignorance of these differences. Belittling real communities on campus does nothing to help unify students from different racial and ethnic backgrounds. What is the point of your article, other than to divide?

As a member of one of these communities, I’ll be the first to admit that there are definite problems and issues that we have relating to other students on campus. But the fact is, unlike you, we try to develop real strategies for bringing students together that don’t involve ignoring people’s backgrounds and demeaning the existence of real communities on campus. We know that being colorblind will do nothing to bring together different communities on campus, and understand that it takes hard work and dialogue to build relationships within and between communities. You can’t just will organizations and whole communities to come together from your perch at the Patriot. You need to live in the real world, engage with these communities on the ground, and think about real strategies for bringing different communities together.

Second you mistake diversity for divisiveness. This argument does not hold water in the real world because you ignore the fact that CalSERVE is a coalition of diverse communities. Recognizing that diversity is real and that people have different backgrounds and experiences is in no way at ends with bringing students together. It is outrageous that someone who has so little experience unifying students on campus among racial lines can belittle students who have actually done the hard work of building relationships within and between different communities.

However, despite all the issues I have with your article, I am glad that you wrote it. Thanks to the wonders of the internet, it will be forever linked to your name, and can be something that all your future friends, colleagues, and coworkers can reference in making a decision about your personal character.

If “students” want to spend their time worrying about this nonsense, I suggest they go back to junior college where they will have all the time in the world to do so.

Serious students, in serious departments, have no time for this.

Anyone that does has no business being at Cal.

“blah blah blah… I will work diligently to foster cross-cultural interactions through continued support for funding and activities.”

Same as the other ethnicly/racially based groups. At least she’ll take the right stance on “Peace not Prejudice Week.”

However, this still is a lame way to run a ‘governmental’ body. The ASUC should focus on more important things… like how to selfdestruct.