Rowan is diverse in more ways than one

From race to religion, whether you’re gay or straight, conservative or liberal, rich or poor, Rowan University encourages you to reach outside of your comfort zone and look to your future with an awareness and consideration for people of all backgrounds.
Although 3/4 of the student population at Rowan consists of white non-hispanics, there is still a large number of students from other backgrounds and cultures. Rowan is more than just a mixture of different colors.
The office of Student Affairs strives to develop a sense of inclusiveness on campus. By doing this, the university can embrace and celebrate each member of the community despite their race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, political, religious/social ideologies or socio-economic status.
Dr. Carmen Jordan-Cox, vice president of student affairs, believes it’s important for students to become familiar with people of diverse backgrounds.
“We live in a world with different walks of life,” Jordan-Cox said. “We need to prepare our students to compete in that world where people have different ideologies.”
The office of multicultural affairs tries to embrace different cultures and create an environment in which students and faculty can be supported on campus. Glassboro State (Rowan University) 1992 graduate and Assistant Director of the office of Multicultural Affairs Dr. John T. Mills encourages people to look past the barriers that have been put in place by our society.
“If young people are able to learn skills beyond [the barriers], they can become better allies and better contributors to our society,” Mills said.
He also mentioned the ever-growing technology that is in our world today. From cell phones to the Internet, people can connect to various countries and meet others that they may not even attempt to meet in person on a regular basis.
Senior computer science major Ashley Douglas, who will be president of the Asian Cultural Society next year, aims to share Asian culture with Rowan and with other campuses as well, such as Stockton University.
“We hope to start mixing with other campuses to get to know other Asians, and spread our ideas,” Douglas said. “We like to create activities when we learn from one another and make friends.”
Douglas comes from a Caribbean background and explained that the club does not contain only Asians but various other minorities as well.
“First the club started out all Asian, but now it is all diverse,” Douglas said. “The club is about learning Asian culture, bringing awareness to it, becoming closer as friends and having a place to hang out and chill.”
Another multicultural organization at Rowan is the Mu Sigma Epsilon sorority. Founded in 1981, it is the first multicultural Greek letter organization. Mu Sigma expresses multiculturalism in numerous ways, including the tradition of saluting in multiple languages.
“Since 2006, when I first enrolled here, diversity has increased, but I still feel it has a long way to go which is why we’ve established Mu Sigma,” said senior psychology major and Mu Sigma member Iris Mendez. “We seek to learn about other cultures as well as express our own individual culture.”
The sorority is hosting their signature event called “R.A.C.E: Recognizing and Celebrating Ethnicities,” a free event that will take place in the Student Center on April 14. This exhibition intends to bring the student body community together, and open them up to different cultures, according to Mendez.
“This event is important because the performers have insights on culture that students have never been exposed to,” Mendez said.
With understanding diversity comes the teaching of acceptance and the erasure of social stereotypes. As a speaker, anti-racist activist Tim Wise brings attention to the negatives people have with diversity. Wise is scheduled to appear on April 22 at the Eynon Ballroom.
As written in the Student Announcer, “The OMA welcomes faculty to have their classes attend as Mr. Wise brings a wealth of knowledge and an engaging delivery to frame the social constructs of race and privilege.”
Another cultural speaker, Dr. On-cho Ng, came to Rowan this past Wednesday and presented at the Asian Cultural Heritage Month Luncheon. ­­Ng expressed Chinese culture by giving his message of “The Dao of Food in Chinese Culture.”
Rowan is an ongoing growing interdependence of ethnic students. Everywhere you turn, there is a fresh face to learn from and befriend. Diversity reaches out within the student body of all races.
One such face is senior African studies major Chanelle Wilson. Wilson student teaches at Delsea High School in West Franklinville, N.J. and has traveled to South Africa to teach adult learners and high school students preparing to graduate.
“In Africa, there are so many complexities that affect the way people live, which is why people are trying to do things to make it right, and I was glad to be a part of that,” Wilson said.
Wilson studied abroad in South Africa last year for six weeks at University of Cape Town through a program at Arcadia University, where she learned about service learning and policy issues. For this accomplishment, Wilson thanks Rowan University.
“Everything I did at Rowan got me where I am today,” Wilson said. “Rowan gave me the most amazing experience, not only intellectually but for my entire life. Rowan is not simply a black and white school. It does a good job of embracing mainstream culture.”
Senior history major Joel Yelin is of Puerto Rican descent and has had several co-authored pieces published. Yelin enjoys doing academic research and writing on the subject. His latest publication is “Geography of the Pilgrimage “ in the “International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research,” which he co-wrote with 2006 Rowan history major grad Jason Rivera and sociology professor Dr. Demond Miller.
The article is about Japanese Buddhism and how Buddhist pilgrimage is used as a form of tourism. Yelin served as the primary author by being a representative of the article, coming up with the idea for it and by doing the major research it required.
“I think that without history we wouldn’t understand diversity, and it shows us why we are diverse, where these ideas come from and where cultures come from,” Yelin said.