OPINION: Diversity died today
Photo taken from Forbes.com. Students attending Loyola will find themselves in a diverse campus environment.
By Michael Lechowicz
Chameleon Staff Writer
I don’t know about you, maybe it is just me, but it seems like we are slowly sacrificing our unique diversity as a culture in America.
Where our parents and grandparents espoused the idea of uniqueness and individuality, we, the younger and less rebellious generation, seem to be collectivizing social interactions at an uncomfortable pace.
Maybe it is the fact we now have one of the the lowest social mobility rates of any developed nation.
Maybe it is just Loyola, proud of its wealthy and homogeneous Catholic heritage.
Or perhaps it’s Marxism and the internet.
Who knows? At any rate, homogeneity of any sort is repulsive.
Does our LGBTQ community truly feel welcome?
Can the College Republicans freely debate them if they want to?
I am not taking a specific stance or arguing for any one of these issues. I am simply taking issue with the unspoken-of silence of seeming tolerance.
Our tolerance should be informed. The “other kids” should not feel like they have to conform.
All of us worry about establishing our careers, building relationships and entering the working world.
Let’s not forget that this is college, though, and we are allowed to have a cornucopia of complex ideas.
To contact Michael Lechowicz, email him at mlechowicz@luc.edu.
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Yes, we are in college, and this “cornucopia of complex ideas” is permissible, but if these ideas are very ill-informed and poorly conceived, are they really worth the time? And the “unspoken-of silence of seeming tolerance” looks more like a whole bunch of arbitrary words smashed together to form a false notion that makes people at Loyola seem like superficial beings that don’t value intimate and long-lasting relationships.
I personally believe in unconditional love, and saying that “our tolerance should be informed” implies that the acceptance we give to our peers should be based on objective knowledge. Don’t get me wrong; we don’t have to like everybody, but rather than remain ignorant of others in our lives, we should strive to continually educate ourselves. I’m personally not a sports fan, but that doesn’t mean I shun anyone that yells “TOUCHDOWN!” or “HOME RUN!!!” I try to either relate to them on a different level (without compromising my personal interests), or try to learn more about their interests.
And Loyola is pretty diverse, in spite of this supposed homogeneity of “wealthy”, “Catholic” persons. If we look very closely, we see that the percentages of people that are Catholic and practice their faith on a daily basis are significantly less than those that have fallen out of Catholic practice, practice a different faith tradition, or do not identify with any sort of religion at all. I am Catholic, and I am also gay. Even before I came out, I didn’t have that much trouble trying to find people that like me for who I am.
Overall, I think this article needed to go through a much longer writing process, and thought process, than what was presented on this post.