Bursting Our Bubbles: Improving Diversity on UNC's Campus

The UNC Undergraduate Senate voted to endorse the Asian American Center (Image)

The UNC Undergraduate Senate voted to endorse the Asian American Center, a student led initiative aiming to open a center for Asian American students on campus in the fall of 2020. The goal of the center is to provide Asian American students with a professional alumni network, scholarship and internship opportunities, a space for Asian organizations to meet, and more representation on campus. This center is an important step towards supporting minority students and organizations by increasing the access to vital resources that minority students need to succeed. The AAC will provide a space for Asian American students who don’t quite identify with the existing Asian American groups on campus to explore their identity and have a community that they belong in. With a fundraising goal of $2.1 million by August 2020, Asian American Tar Heels certainly have something to look forward to next year - but while this center is a huge step in the right direction for minorities, it is crucial that we don’t let the creation of centers such as these keep us in bubbles that we never dare to venture out from. We will not grow as a community and address the problems that challenge us today, both political and non-political, if we cannot step outside our comfort zones and meaningfully engage with people and perspectives different from our own.

Carolina is an incredibly diverse university, and we aren’t afraid to boast it. The most recent demographic statistics show that international students come from 54 different countries, national students come from 45 different states, and even in state students are from 97 of the 100 different NC counties. 40 percent of the undergraduate body identifies with at least one minority race or ethnicity. However, while we have a plethora of different ethnicities and perspectives present at Carolina, it doesn’t mean they all interact with each other. College is when students find their community and connect with people that share their experiences. Taking one look around common areas on campus, it is apparent that these kinds of people are usually the same race. It is only natural for students to feel most at home with people like themselves, and this kind of community can be a comfort in a time of incredible change and uncertainty.

Academic studies have shown that one of the main reasons we have seen such an uptick in polarization in recent years is due to social sorting. People sorting themselves into social groups, usually defined by race or ethnicity, is a natural psychological disposition. The problem with social sorting is that it crease an ingroup/outgroup bias - an “us vs. them” mentality. This mentality makes it very difficult for people to view members of other social groups as friendly, expanding the already wide political divide between racial groups in America. The wider this divide becomes, the more difficult it will become to address the issues that press our society today.

That is the last thing UNC needs. With growing political tensions on campus due to events such as the Genocide Awareness Project, issues with campus police and Confederates and last year’s toppling of Silent Sam, we need to come together as a campus and listen to perspectives outside our own. This is by no means saying that centers and spaces for minority groups are a bad thing - in fact, they are crucial to ensuring the minority voice can be heard in the broader discussion and helping underprivileged students find success and representation at Carolina. But these centers and communities must actively engage with one another so we can build a stronger campus to address the problems that face us today.