[578] in Discussion of MIT-community interests
Re: "diversity" and GIRs
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Laura G Dean)
Tue May 8 22:18:22 2001
Message-Id: <200105090217.WAA06950@contents-vnder-pressvre.mit.edu>
To: Aisha D Stroman <adstrom@MIT.EDU>
cc: asarahm <asarahm@MIT.EDU>, mit-talk@MIT.EDU
In-reply-to: Your message of "Tue, 08 May 2001 20:41:12 EDT."
<200105090041.UAA04062@w20-575-93.mit.edu>
Date: Tue, 08 May 2001 22:17:52 -0400
From: Laura G Dean <lgdean@MIT.EDU>
On Tue, 08 May 2001 20:41:12 EDT, Aisha D Stroman wrote:
> people who LIVE in New House are afraid to go in CC and some into
> House 2, and it's not like we don't invite them. People have said
> they feel intimidated because they are out of their comfort zone.
I'd feel funny visiting any place where I don't know someone.
I'd be intimidated sitting around at Next House, or an unfamiliar
floor at EC, too. New people are always scary.
That said, I imagine culture also has something to do with it.
> We have people who dont' think the Tutorial Services Room is
> available to them because it is run by the Office of Minority
> Education. Why do they even think that would be legal??? So race
> does become an issue.
My perception: it might be technically available to me, but it isn't
*meant* for me. (The course 6 tutoring program, by contrast, is
clearly meant for anyone having difficulty in a course 6 class.)
> I believe that each cultural group on this campus has thrown at
> least one event that was open to the public and saw nothing but
> their own folks there--people who looked like them, hung around
> them, and didn't really learn anything they didn't already know.
I'd like to point out that GaMIT's Fierce Forever drag show has had a
pretty reasonable number of straight people there, the times I've
gone. (I mean, you can't tell by looking at individuals, but you can
guess by looking at couples, and you already know about people you
already know (in many cases).) Dances, though, are less likely to
have that property (certainly a much lower proportion.) It may be
that people are more comfortable with a certain group, but it also has
to do with how entertaining they expect the event to be.
> Anyway, everything on this campus is open to EVERYONE. No one can
> exclude anyone,
No, but students can make other students feel unwelcome, both on
purpose and by accident.
> so I wish people would stop assuming they aren't
> welcome without even trying to join. Maybe if we could get that
> through people's heads, and if people were willing to step out of
> their comfort zones, we wouldn't be thinking about a culture class.
...but that makes sense too.
Laura
