The major pillars of Brandeis' principles include pluralism and respect for diversity. The events of last semester have led us to write this column because we care for our community and feel it has lost the values of mutual acceptance that its founding fathers sought to imbue it with. Respect for diversity requires an atmosphere of inter-communal mingling. However, that does not happen in an environment where people clump together. We argue that clumping, despite being a natural tendancy, is often counter-productive and does not promote an environment of mutual acceptance and understanding.

Respect for diversity would, for example, mean the members of Hillel not just hosting the Brandeis Muslim Student Association (MSA) or South Asian Student Association (SASA) for Shabbat dinners, but going to MSA and SASA dinners as well.

Any minority student (at Brandeis, read: non-Jew) who is a representative of his or her culture should not get offended when asked about his or her background. This frustration, which often comes from repetitive questioning, is also natural. However, students must ask themselves, if they aren't going to speak up for their traditions, who else will? Misconceptions and prejudices do not go away by themselves. By refusing to act as an ambassador, one risks strengthening the stereotypes that exist.

These kinds of stereotypes, latent grudges and ignorance may result in occurrences reminicent of our "Dusty Baker incident" last year. Like many other people, we were shocked to read the manner in which Dusty Baker was "exposed" in the Oct. 21 issue of the Justice. We remember gasping in horror when a friend pointed out those lines to us last October.

As horrible as the comment was, such intolerance cannot be dispelled without patient understanding and dialogue, because we all came to Brandeis with misconceptions. Patient dialogue comes through intermingling. One should lead by example, not by criticism. Instead of getting offended by people's actions and condemning them, it's better to challenge their misconceptions and educate them on differences.

It is commendable that Brandeis discourages clumping during orientation. It is a fact of life that people will stick to whatever is comfortable for them. As a result, many interact with people from similar backgrounds. It is often difficult for students with different interests to interact beyond a superficial level, or to even agree on which movie to watch or concert to attend. As a result, it might be productive to create an environment during orientation where students are compelled to interrelate with those from different backgrounds that are already here. It is true people clump with those they are comfortable with, but perhaps, with careful programming and planning, students with different backgrounds can be made to feel comfortable with each other.

Brandeis, as a social institution, does not yet structurally support diversity. However, this is not due to its historical background, but rather the current practices of some student organizations. In many cases, clubs and programs that are geared for students work to separate groups rather than unite them. It is admirable that Brandeis has many cultural, religious and social clubs specific to certain demographics. However, such clubs tacitly encourage people with the same backgrounds to clump together rather than intermingle. Just like one would expect that the membership of the Russian Club to be overwhelmingly Russian and the Brandeis Orthodox Organization to be Orthodox Jewish, one can equally expect the Korean Student Association to consist mostly of Korean students and the Brandeis Black Student Organization to be mostly black.

The description of the Inter-Cultural Center's Listserv-to which any student can subscribe-is called the "IC Members and Minorities List." One wonders why the list is named that way when the ICC is supposed to serve the entire Brandeis community. We contacted Sujan Talukdar, the director of the ICC, and she agreed with us, saying she was not sure why it was set up that way, also adding that she did not start it. We were informed that mailings are not sent only to racial minorities, but they were sent only to those people who asked to receive mailings. Talukdar said she would look into modifying the list's description so it would be "more accurate." That is an attitude we appreciat-a very positive, receptive mood that tends toward inclusion.

Cultural groups do provide a huge public service to Brandeis by putting on many culturally significant events for the entire student body to learn from and enjoy. However, students who are already familiar with the culture often attend such events. While these events are a great tool to help spread cultural awareness, those who are least knowledgeable about different cultures rarely attend them. There is no simple solution for the clumping caused by such groups. While these groups are open to the entire campus, many students do not identify with them and therefore do not feel comfortable joining.

One example of a pluralistic trend is MSA having a non-Muslim as a member of their executive board. This board member ran for vice-president this year. Rev. Nathaniel Mays, the Coordinator of Diversity Services, is working on a series of diversity initiatives, the main goal of which is to bring people across the table to interact at a "human level." He told us that unless there is honest conversation, events will be meaningless.

Mays continued, "unless there is some social risk-taking, where individuals and groups are challenged to have honest conversations about the many forms of difference on campus, the end result will be a legacy of having simply done diversity 'activity.' Even when it seems that we are struggling on thea diversity front, we see order in the chaos of miscommunications that take place on campus around diversity."

These initiatives, however, will definitely result in more events. Like many frustrated and disenchanted advocates and pluralists across the Brandeis campus, we can only keep our fingers crossed and hope that these initiatives will result in the honest, interpersonal dialogue needed to restore Brandeis to its original vision.

If Brandeis is truly to be what the most vocal of its students desire and true to its pillars, it's up to all Brandeis students to take it upon themselves to fulfill those values instead of blaming others for not doing so. At the end, we feel that the desire to be inclusive and welcome individuals of other communities as equals rests with each student. We feel that no amount of coercing, suspensions/resignations, or cross-cultural events will do the trick, until students come to a realization on a profound internal basis and make the attempt to look for comfort beyond clumping.