To help students navigate through the staggeringly diverse range of student associations and opportunities for cultural enrichment available on Grounds, the Office of the Dean of Students has created a program to encourage students to go beyond their cultural "comfort zones" by attending meetings of various groups on grounds.
The Passport Program was created in conjunction with the Coalition, UNiTE, the Office of African-American Affairs, the International Studies Office, the Women's Center, and the Cultural Programming Board.
The program is a response to concerns raised by students, student groups and faculty about the level of cultural contact that most University students experience, Asst. Dean of Students Pablo Davis said.
"There was a sense that was widely shared that something needed to happen to encourage intercultural experience and contact," Davis said.
While Davis credits the efforts of student groups and faculty in encouraging students to involve themselves in a full range of diverse activities, he says the strength of the new program is its concrete structure.
"The Passport program was conceived to go beyond just encouragement. This program offers a framework of giving students a clear goal that can actually be reached," Davis said.
This semester, program participants will complete five "border crossings," by attending events in which they otherwise would not have participated because of differences in race, religion or ideology.
"A border is considered crossed if students identify the event as an academic, cultural or social event -- that they could say 'I would not have ordinarily attended this because I would have been uncomfortable, it was unfamiliar, or I was fearful,'" Davis said.
While the program emphasizes the individual experience of its participants, it also includes a "shared dimension," he said. Participants will attend one facilitated discussion session where they will discuss their experiences with other members of the program. They also will be asked to respond to their experiences in a "passport booklet," and to publish two of their responses on the program's Web site.
Davis said he hopes these published responses will motivate others to participate in the future.
Second-year Engineering student Armando Carillo, who worked on the program's planning committee, said he hopes participants will gain "a broader range of understanding of different cultures and genders and how they can benefit from them."
The program's organizers are offering a range of incentives that include drawings for travel discounts from STA travel, gift certificates from the University Bookstore and local restaurants, and event passes from University Programs Council, Davis said.
There are approximately 50 students currently enrolled in the program, and the program is still seeking new participants, he added. An information session will be held this Tuesday on the second floor of Peabody Hall at 5 p.m.
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