With over 10 per cent of full-time University of Victoria students coming from countries other than Canada, UVic's student-base is just about as diverse as our country itself.
To celebrate campus multiplicity, UVic dedicated the month of March to a series of lectures, conferences, festivals and other events promoting awareness of diversity on campus and across the world.
Lectures offered at UVic throughout the month ranged in topics from the Indonesian sex trade to Croatian psychiatry. The university welcomed a number of distinguished foreign speakers including both Dr. Mykola Ryabchuk, a prominent Ukrainian poet and cultural critic who led a conference on Ukrainian culture after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Shirin Ebadi, who delivered a translated lecture in Farsi on gender, multiculturalism and religion.
The university also hosted its third annual day-long Global Village festival presented by the student association AIESEC Victoria. Attracting an estimated 680 spectators, the event showcased kiosks from cultural organizations based on- and off-campus, as well as performances by Portuguese, Scottish, Middle Eastern and other heritage dance groups. The day also included a series of cultural workshops ranging in topic from "culture shock" to "global citizenship."
"Global Village's mission was to celebrate cultural diversity," said Ling Wang, the main team coordinator from AIESEC Victoria for the event. "We encouraged booth exhibitors to create their displays based on a project, an issue or a program from their country, allowing for those attending Global Village an in-depth look into the reality of a particular country."
According to Grace Wong Sneddon, diversity advisor to the provost, Diversity Month carries a positive sentiment that will hopefully transfer into the rest of the school year. Beyond Diversity Month, The Office of Equity and Human Rights produces a monthly "Working for Change" calendar and organizations like AIESEC Victoria show their commitment towards the promotion of diversity awareness year-round.
"My goal of course is to integrate [diversity] so it becomes a part of everyday thinking," says Sneddon. "Otherwise, all the good energy falls apart because you can't sustain it."
UVic held its first Diversity Week in 1998 following the publication of its "Voices for Change" report. The document brought attention to issues of racism, ethnocentrism and cultural insensitivity on campus. A decade later this event has been expanded to include a month's worth of activities and the discussion regarding diversity and discrimination at UVic has been opened up.
"We didn't have a plan," says Sneddon, regarding the previous lack of acknowledgment of discrimination at UVic. "I think now we're opening the envelope more."
Sneddon, along with two UVic Equity Advisory Groups, met with university president David Turpin last month to offer advice on equity and human rights at UVic. Of the four issues presented, number one was "ambient violence and race and racism." These concerns are the result of a number of on-campus incidents, especially racist, sexist and homophobic graffiti in classrooms and libraries.
"The president was really great," says Sneddon. "He stepped right up and said, 'You know, there will be zero tolerance.'"
Though commitment to the reduction of stereotyping and discrimination at the university should ideally extend past Diversity Month, such events help draw attention to campus diversity and broaden international perspective.
"By opening peoples' eyes," says Wang, "on a one to one basis, at an exhibitor booth or through a discussion at a workshop, or simply sitting back and enjoying a cultural performance, new knowledge and awareness is brought forward, discouraging racism and racial stereotyping."
For more information on the Working for Change Calendar, visit the Office of Equity and Human Right's website at http://web.uvic.ca/eqhr/.
Originally published in Volume 1, Issue 3 of the Fountain, April 2008