As I taught my course this past semester, I was increasingly concerned that not all of my students felt comfortable sharing their thoughts and perspectives with the class. Southern Utah University has a predominantly Caucasian-American, LDS student body. There is nothing wrong with this, as I have thoroughly enjoyed my interactions within the SUU community, except for the fact that there is somewhat of a lack of diversity.
I believe diversity is a beautiful thing. It is through the exchanging of diverse views and beliefs that one grows and forms opinions of his/her own. However, I have seen firsthand how a lack of diversity can severely halt this process. Growing up in Oregon, I was frequently one of the only (if not the only) students in my classes that had conservative beliefs. Whenever a political or religious debate would arise, my skin would crawl, for I knew that it was just a matter of time before I had the entire class ganging up on me if I shared my beliefs. Because of a few very negative experiences, I became very reserved during these types of debates, which also may explain why I don’t talk religion or politics freely to this day.
One of my biggest fears as a teacher is that my students will experience this in my classroom. At SUU, however, the problem is reversed. I share the same beliefs and views as the vast majority of my students. I worry that this could lead to me assuming that all of my students think and behave the same way I do. Even more so, I worry that the minority in my class will feel the pack mentality crash down on them. The last thing I want to do is discourage any of my students from sharing their unique perspective on the world, especially when I am teaching a subject as important as interpersonal communications.
In an attempt to give each of my students the courage necessary to share their opinions without fear, I share this TED Talk with them:
I love this. I truly adore the idea of sitting down with someone in a completely unbiased environment and giving an honest effort to understand why they think the way they do. It could be about anything. It could be a serious issue like the ethical implications of abortion, or something as silly as a Duke fan taking a North Carolina fan to lunch.
This past semester I had a single African-American student in my class. Originally from Chicago, she came to SUU to compete for the track team. She was very quiet in class, frequently going weeks without raising her hand or making any comments. It was hard for me to get to know her until the semester picked up and she was completing the papers I had assigned. Through her assignments, I learned so much about her. She was such a fascinating personality, with more life experiences than most of the class combined. I begged and begged her to speak up in class. She had a perspective so drastically unique from the rest of the class, I knew every single one of her classmates would benefit from hearing her views. Unfortunately, she never spoke up much because of the fear of ridicule. Yes, she did start to freely express her opinions towards the end of the semester, but I knew the rest of the class missed out on so much they could have gained from her. It is my biggest regret that she was not able to more frequently take the class to lunch.
I believe it is only through whole-hearted efforts like this that our country, perhaps even our world, can be healed from all the hatred it is enduring right now. Differing views on politics, religion, and everything else you can think of has created such great divides between us. Perhaps if each of us were more willing to take someone different from us to lunch, then we could start to work together and create a better tomorrow.
Hayden Coombs 