The power of people

I recently picked up a copy of The Daily Pennsylvanian and read the article, "Many voices speak for minorities" (12/7/00), knowing what to expect, since as a member of both UMOJA and the United Minorities Council, I was fully aware of the protagonists, antagonists and the issues of the article. For those who did not read it, the article explored the divisions within the minority community, specifically those between the UMC and the coalitions for Latino, black and Asian students on campus. My first thought after reading the article regarded the headline itself. The question that I asked myself is the same as the one I will now pose to you, and to the leaders of the UMC, UMOJA, the Asian Pacific Students Coalition and the Latino Coalition. Is having many minority voices necessarily a bad thing? I don't believe that it is. The shout of many voices clamoring in unison is many times more powerful than isolated voices screaming in solitude. The possibility of these coalitions -- each fighting for the issues pertinent to their individual communities while working with the UMC on broader matters -- could only serve to empower all of our communities on this campus. We must not work against each other since we are all trying to achieve and accomplish the same things. As Courtney Patterson, the UMC's newly-elected political chair, beautifully articulated during her election, the issues of any individual minority community are seldom a problem that that community faces alone. That brief yet profound statement strikes at the heart of the matter. If we look at some of the issues on this campus, we can definitely see that there's plenty of room for Latino, black, Asian and any other kind of voice that wishes to speak out and work on these issues. There's the recruitment and retention of underrepresented students, the recruitment of minority faculty members, the protection of the South Asian Regional Studies program and the bridging of social gaps between our communities. Don't forget the initiative to send applications and information to students in their native tongues, the lack of a minority presence within the offices of University President Judith Rodin, as well as the provost and vice provost and the lack of minorities in leadership positions within the Penn Police department. We must remain focused on the issues because, in my opinion, that will serve to truly unite all of us. Furthermore, we must also look at the source of the conflict within our communities. Why must the University and its administrators limit the number of our voice? It is that decision by the administration that has forced us to divert energy away from becoming the one voice that the administration listens to in respect to our issues. Let us spend the energy that we expend competing among ourselves to become that voice, instead questioning the administration on why it does not feel the need to listen to all of our voices. Why can't they handle the issues of our individual communities, as well as those of the minority community as a whole? Why must the UMC go through the Undergraduate Assembly for a University Council seat? Why must the coalitions go unrepresented on the Council? Let us spend our energy together as a collective whole to make the University face up and address these issues. It is truly not that difficult to envision a situation where the University's administrators listen and address the concerns and needs of all of our organizations, the UMC and the individual coalitions of the respective communities. In order to do this, however, we must all work together.

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