The Cavalier Daily
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Life after admissions

AS OF THIS weekend we're all batting for the same team. No, students divided over the Major League Baseball playoffs haven't agreed on which ball club is best. But the Board of Visitors did make a key play this weekend that hopefully will create a greater sense of unity among students.

During Fall Break, the Board voted unanimously to support the University's admissions policy, which uses race as a factor. The admissions process will be somewhat different, though, in that the previous numerical scoring method has been eliminated. Race, among other applicant characteristics, still will be considered but no longer will be a numerically weighted factor.

The debacle over affirmative action in admissions has brought about a divisive wave of emotion at the University. Different opinions have angered student and special interest groups alike. Needless to say, we have not attained a constructive dialogue.

But in the midst of organized protest and demands for resignations, student groups and administrators seemed to forget about the four years students spend in college after the admissions process is over and done with. If students don't actively seek out the benefits of diversity, then the debate that has engulfed the University in the past weeks will have been in vain.

With discussion over affirmative action becoming more and more heated, last weekend's decision by the Board to defend the University's admissions policies puts to rest questions concerning the school's official stance on the issue. But the race debate among students and administrators must not come to an end. Instead, energy should be directed away from argument and towards mutual education.

University students fought to keep diversity in their education, and now it's time to focus efforts inward, to make students' time at the University a diverse learning and living experience.

Assembling a diverse body of young people to attend the University, without a doubt, is hard. But the difficulty of creating a constructive and truly educational environment for students is almost incomprehensible. The administration now must pay much attention to the legal defense of the University's admissions policies. With that in mind, students should take on the responsibility of making diversity work.

Just a quick stroll around Grounds any day of the week will demonstrate failure to take advantage of the diversity of cultures that surround us. Students are divided -- often by race -- in their everyday lives and in the activities they join.

This segregation isn't altogether detrimental to student life at the University -- groups such as the Black Student Alliance and the Organization of Young Filipino Americans are essential to promoting and preserving these cultures and educating students about them. But many times, though, when students partition themselves off into their respective races, religious denominations, political beliefs, etc., they can forget that there is much to be learned outside our interests in particular groups or causes.

This is where students must take the initiative to step out of their comfort zones and change the environment in which they live and learn. Students have written about diversity, they've held rallies about it and even have camped out on the Lawn in the name of preserving it at the University. So now that the administration has made a commitment to stand behind the admissions policy, students need to match its fervor by bringing together, in social and academic settings, groups that normally would cater only to a small section of the University community. Through activities and learning experiences that include cross-sections of the University, students will experience the very reasons why diversity belongs at the University.

This might seem like another call to action, but students, and the groups that they belong to, need to make a conscious effort to diversify their thinking and especially their event planning. How about salsa/Irish dancing lessons sponsored by La Sociedad Latina and the Society of the Virginia Irish, or a talent show put on by the Inter-Fraternity, Inter-Sorority and Black Fraternal Councils?

It would be refreshing to see a step show that included pledges from a social fraternity and a traditionally black fraternity, and fun to hear an a cappella concert performed by both black and non-racially oriented groups. It's activities like these that will expose us to parts of the University with which we're unfamiliar. The Office of Admissions, through its careful consideration of all aspects of applicants, has made sure that there are unique sections of University life for each and every student. And with its recent decision to support the admissions policies, the Board has made sure that these sections will remain.

True, it will be a long time before each student feels completely comfortable with each and every one of his or her peers, but we have to start sometime. Now that we've fought to keep diversity a part of University admissions, let's strive to take advantage of it in order to enhance University life.

(Erin Perucci is an associate editor for The Cavalier Daily.)

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https://open.spotify.com/episode/02ZWcF1RlqBj7CXLfA49xt