Word: ethnics
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...some extent this perception is unavoidable and logistically based. After all, members of a certain ethnic group, in order to organize events relating to their culture, have to come together for the purposes of planning and meeting. Intra-group relations are often a necessity...
...through close interaction while planning events, students in an ethnic organization extend their working relationship to friendships. This in itself is not problematic. The problem arises when friendships between members within an ethnic organization change from being a byproduct (guided by the greater goal of educating the larger campus) to becoming the goal...
...Ethnic groups change from promoting diversity to self-segregating when the individual goal of fostering intragroup friendships becomes the goal of the group. Athletes and actors form friendships by virtue of their common affiliation with a specific team or production, but their raison d'etre is limited by their outward-looking responsibility to play games or put on a show...
...When ethnic groups organize social events and target them at their own membership only, they make intragroup relationships the sole purpose of their existence. In those purely social events such as karaoke night, study breaks, parties and dances, no real learning or inter-cultural exchange takes place. Such events undermine the supposed rationale for the existence of the organization itself...
Even if an ethnic organization manages to avoid the first difficulty by including an educational or cultural component in every event, a second obstacle to promoting diversity arises. When students outside of an ethnic group see the name of an ethnic organization on a poster, they assume they aren't invited. Here the only solution is universal targeting. Ethnic organizations must emphasize that their activities are aimed at all students. This means that publicity for events should extend beyond e-mail announcements, and distribution of selective incentives such as newsletters, pamphlets and sign-ups, should attempt to be more inclusive...