Over the past week, there has been a long conversation about the Galpin Call-in, which took place on Jan. 24, 2018. Most of the discussions that have taken place have focused on debriefing the takeaways from the event itself and the relevance of the agreed upon demands.
One of the questions that has seemingly been a repetitive topic of discussions with students and administrators is, out of all demands, what in your eyes was the immediate impact you and other student organizers expected out of the demonstration? Speaking as an individual, it was tough for me to answer this question honestly because out of the 17 agreed upon demands, many have a timeline of action that I will not be able to see come to fruition during my final semester as a student at the College.
That being said, in my eyes, the $20,000 allocated to the Center for Diversity and Inclusion (CDI) here on campus was the most relevant immediate demand as we continue fighting to strengthen our community. This allocation, along with the provision for greater consideration in future budget restructuring for CDI, holds such great importance as the College continues to expand. This demand, more than any other in my eyes, is a symbolic message from the College’s administration that investing in Wooster’s promise to engage diversity must always be a point of emphasis. It comes at such an important marker in our history as this academic year also brought forth the most diverse first-year class in Wooster’s history.
In one of my final classes here at The College of Wooster, Professor Boubacar N’Diaye described our classroom as a learning community. A community with similar objectives in regards to educating ourselves and engaging new perspectives we may have never experienced. In order to guarantee the success of our community, each individual member of that community has to offer their personal experience and knowledge. It is through this engagement with our differences that we can create new and learn from one another.
The College of Wooster is a learning community which shares a tradition of expanding diversity. We all have come here with a similar purpose to educate ourselves and grow as people. Just having that diversity and remaining separate is the ultimate failure of our community. Not engaging with one another and the cultures, perspectives and knowledge we each hold stunts the growth of each individual.
The CDI has been tasked along with a number of student groups on campus with the purpose of guiding us all out of our respective comfort zones. This center offers the space and programming needed for us all to grow as an individual and maintain Wooster’s commitment to engaging the growing diversity on our campus not only racially, but also across borders and sexuality. As we continue to promote the recruitment of diverse students, faculty and staff, the purpose of this center continues to develop. The expansion of their responsibilities and programming must be followed with funding. Without that funding, we as a community limit just how far we can grow together.
Aaron Roberson, a Contributing Writer for the Voice, can be reached for comment at ARoberson18@wooster.edu.