THE STATE of Race Relations, an organization that promotes racial equality, recently released the results of a survey conducted earlier this year. The underlying conclusion of the result was not too stirring: There is self-segregation that exists at the University. Needless to say, no one was surprised.
Self-segregation at the University seems to be as old and entrenched as some of the traditions students practice so vehemently. I must have overlooked the page on cliques in the colorful guide provided for incoming first year students, because exclusive groups certainly are an integral part of life at the University - a part that most students, perhaps unknowingly, contribute to every day.
While racial self-segregation at the University has multiple causes, it has its roots in students' own attitude towards cliques. Students form social circles based upon a collective group of interests, cultural attitudes, goals and experiences. That is, after all, what an important part of the college experience is about: finding your niche. Unfortunately, these interests and experiences are often divided along racial lines, creating the racial self-segregation which displays itself from Rugby Road to Newcomb Hall.
The first step in moving towards eliminating self-segregation is convincing students that it is harmful - a task much harder than one would expect. Many students tend to hold the notion that in order to accommodate others, they must dilute their own interests and perceptions. It is actually simply a matter of being more open-minded.
It is normal for any given social circle to have certain characteristics which define members' common bond of interests. The exclusivity of these groups and the stereotypes attributed to them, however, are what eventually lead to the harmful effect of cliques.
Since the issue is more complicated than a few changes in first-year housing arrangements and hackneyed surveys, students must make the first move. Self-segregation is not limited to minorities, but starts with the exclusivity of more mainstream and trendy cliques on Grounds. We should break past the stereotypes that create barriers between students. We should be more open-minded towards the different interests of our fellow peers.
Through experiencing and perhaps even pursuing all facets of University life, students can create greater interaction between various communities within the University. From student government to the Greek system to an ethnic organization, active involvement will encourage students to form common bonds with groups outside their own sphere of interests.
First-year students especially should break away from the shackles of cliques and formulate their own perceptions of different students. They should rush a fraternity to find out for themselves that frat boys are not all blonde haired, blue eyed jocks. They can join a group of politicos for lunch to can learn that the Gore-Bush debate is not always their topic of conversation. They could attend an ethnic or cultural event and experience diversity in its truest form.
The stereotypes concerning cliques are methodically passed down to every incoming class as a tool for surviving at the University. For example, we've all been told that the politicos - those supposedly destined to rule the world in a few years - live in Brown College. Frat boys don't mingle with students who can't drink Natty Lite. International students and those in active organizations rarely diverge from their own kind and students who aren't middle class white men with wardrobes full of khakis are a different breed altogether. These are the stereotypes we hear about often, and their perpetuation is what leads to self-segregation.
Breaking past these stereotypes may seem like a far-fetched and oversimplified solution to a very complex problem. In a way, it is. Harmonizing students from different cliques may lead to the social integration of students at the University but may do very little for racial self-segregation. It is, however, a step in the right direction.
It is up to us, in a collective effort to create the best possible college experience for everyone, to end self-segregation. Believe it or not, it can begin with a simple "hello" next time you're walking down the Lawn.
(Faraz Rana's column appears Fridays in The Cavalier Daily.)
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