It’s rush hour on Bruin Walk.
As usual, this main artery of campus pulsates with the flow of
students ““ rushing to lecture, rushing to the dorms, rushing
to keep up. As usual, their paths are constantly obstructed by
eager student leaders and adamant club members urging them to take
flyers, attend meetings, and join a cause.
And as usual, many students make it through the chaos unscathed.
They frown at the plethora of multicolored leaflets in their hands
and resume their journeys.
But through the sea of people emerges third-year biochemistry
student, Jessica Murphy ““ empty-handed, as usual.
“My friends talk about how they always get bombarded on
Bruin Walk, but when I walk down (there), nobody hands anything to
me,” Murphy said, referring to the many ethnically based
organizations that advertise on the pathway.
Murphy speculated on whether this was a result of her white
skin.
“They don’t do it on purpose, but it seems like
people only want to hang with people from their own race,”
Murphy said.
Like Murphy, many students said they notice some extent of
ethnic division on campus, including student involvement in
ethnic-based student groups, the Greek system, or same-race groups
of friends.
“I think student groups are great, but you do see the
segregation on Bruin Walk,” said Marsha Pack, a fourth-year
music student.
With the presence of racial divisions, the debate continues on
whether ethnocentrism ““ the tendency for one to group with
his or her own race ““ has positive or negative effects on
student life.
The answer is both, many believe. Â
On one hand, it is understandable that incoming students try to
find their “comfort zone” and group with students of
similar ethnic backgrounds, said K.W. Lee, instructor of the
interdepartmental course “Investigative Journalism and
Communities of Color.”
“Ethnic solidarity is very important,” Lee said, but
stressed that a “coalition of all colors” is the only
hope for what Lee believes is a glum situation.
“I have detected the lonely crowds. “¦ It gives me a
sense of cosmic sorrow,” he said, referring to what is his
perception of isolated ethnic groups on campus.
Most students disagreed about the severity of the issue, though
they maintained that some division existed.
It is easier to relate to other people of one’s own race,
said Keeka Rivas, a fourth-year physical science student, but
continued that race should not really matter at all.
At the same time, many believed the issue of race could not be
ignored in the presence of an abundance of ethnically based student
groups.
Nancy Rodriguez, a fourth-year psychobiology student, said she
originally joined a Chicana/o student organization to find her
niche on campus.
But finding that niche could mean making it more difficult to
connect with other groups.
“All groups are formed for a positive purpose. “¦
(They) celebrate culture and present an opportunity to educate, but
I don’t know of serious attempts to reach out to those not of
that ethnicity,” said Paul Tang, a graduate student in
materials science and engineering.
But Julie Chang, internal director of the Asian Pacific
Coalition, said it is not difficult for students of different
ethnic groups to join APC.
“We don’t really have a set membership. … (It is)
open to anybody who’s interested,” she said.
Chris Hauck, president of the Interfraternity Council, said as
far as he knows, the fraternities on campus share the same
sentiment.
“I don’t think think there is any fraternity on
campus that would allow or not allow someone in their house solely
based on ethnicity,” Hauck said.
But Rivas contested that it is still impossible not to feel like
an outsider.
“You always feel like an outsider no matter how welcoming
people are,” she said.
An explanation of ethnocentrism may go beyond a need to be
comfortable, a need to celebrate heritage or a need to educate
““ it may be human nature.
One explanation could lie in social identity theory, said
Professor James Sidanius of the psychology department.
According to the theory developed in the late 1970s, people tend
to want to categorize objects that possess similar characteristics.
They are also naturally inclined to identify with groups to which
they see themselves as belonging, and they evaluate their
self-worth by comparison to others who are similar to
themselves.
Ethnic divisions may be human nature, but may also be
detrimental to the campus experience, according to recent studies
conducted by Sidanius and other psychology professors throughout
the nation.
Beginning in 1996, researchers recorded the behavior of more
than 2,000 Asian, black, Latino and white UCLA students from their
first through fourth year on campus.
The first study concluded that students who tended to stick to
their own ethnic group in choosing friends seemed to have a bias
toward their own group and an anxiety toward other groups.
A second study, measuring the effects of ethnic-based groups for
minority students, and fraternities and sororities for white
students concluded that these organizations lead to a
student’s decreased sense of identity with members of other
ethnicities and an increased sense of victimization for members of
one’s own group.
Sidanius believed the administration could offer some practical
solutions.
“The university should continue to ethnically mix
students,” Sidanius said, citing ethnically diverse roommates
as a good example.
There’s also a question of the rate at which the
university should encourage student involvement in ethnic groups on
campus, he added.
“Whether it’s politically acceptable or not,
that’s another issue,” he said.
The university has settled this issue: interference would not be
acceptable, said Robert Naples, dean of students and assistant vice
chancellor for student and campus life.
“The administration can’t be in the business of
regulating what organization students belong to,” he said,
adding that many of the other extracurricular activities offered on
campus are multicultural in nature.
Chang, of the APC, did not believe there was a need for the
university to interfere in the first place.
“Its surprising the study shows that; I don’t think
it’s true at all,” Chang said. “You learn to
cooperate with different groups: you learn the skills to
cooperate.”
Pack added that though she would not join an ethnically-based
student group, she did not detect any antagonism between
groups.
Another study, questioning whether a sense of antagonism results
from the numerous ethnic study courses on campus, is in progress,
Sidanius said.
Both professors and students alike believed these courses do not
contribute to ethnic divisions.
“In my class, I am trying to encourage students (of
different ethnicities) to team up,” said Lee, who teaches the
communities of color course.
Rivas said she wouldn’t feel as intimidated taking an
ethnic study course about an ethnicity different from hers as she
would joining an ethnic club.
Scot Brown, an African American studies professor, added that
ethnic studies is a way for people to engage in each others’
cultural experiences. He stressed that as a new faculty member, he
does not detect ethnocentrism on campus.
However, some who do detect it believe that students are
responsible for making the changes themselves.
“The sun rises on each generation and it’s up to
students to build their own worlds. “¦ It’s easy to stay
in your own comfort zone, but the situation really cries out for
cooperation and collaboration,” Lee said.