Multiculturalism on Campus—Similarities with Differences

Multiculturalism on Campus—Similarities with Differences
By: Ryan Ochs

Coming from the small town of Sparta, New Jersey, where 98 percent of the population is white, I grew up with discrimination, so coming to a place like Roehampton University, it was a pleasant surprise to find acceptance from others. In mu opinion in other parts of the world, for example South Africa, if you are not Christian/white, you are discriminated against just for being born, but that is not the case here. Here, the people are so diverse and every one is accepted for who they are.

The people here at Roehampton University are literally from around the world. Students here are from London, as would be the case at a school in the United States, but there is also a huge population of students from South Africa, Italy, Russia, Germany, and even Brazil. With such a diverse population of students, one might expect there to be discrimination, among the students. This, however, does not exist here; at least not at the forefront of social interactions.

This institution not only houses these people from around the world, but also accepts and nurtures their different backgrounds. No matter what your background is, what color your skin, your choice of divine being, you will find you are accepted. At this university, there are three different places of worship on the campus, for Christianity, Judaism, and Muslim. You do not have to be of these religions to pray on campus; however, there is also a dedicated prayer room so that you can go in and pray in your own way.

The diversity of the campus is not limited to merely religion. The university and more importantly the students who inhabit it are very accepting of each other’s personal choices, which is not the case outside of the walls of this institution. In London, much of the accepting nature of Roehampton does not exist. On a daily basis, be it in the newspaper, or coming from the lips of someone who just doesn’t like the color of someone’s skin, there is racism and discrimination. This author knows first-hand that London is not the only place that this happens, but to me it is strange to see such a difference in a distance of literally five miles, and of only a few generations. Yet, no matter the difference of opinion people were always willing to help with directions when we were lost.

Roehampton, however, is not the pristine place for social pacifism. As stated before, most of the people are accepting here, unless of course you support the current leadership of the United States. In a few classes, there are people, mostly older, who have a more classic view of the world and do not agree with the choices that the United States have made which leads to a little bit of friction between fellow students. The small percentage of students that have a negative view of things were more than made up for by the legion of people who want to know everything about the United States, or want to learn how to gain our accent.