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Feast at the table of diversity

International Day for Tolerance highlights how diversity, inclusion, and a welcoming climate are the foundations for any community to thrive. A communication professor examines how diversity and inclusion shape us as Aggies.

By Hannah LeGare ’19

International Day for Tolerance is on November 16 every year. It was started by the United Nations General Assembly, with the goal of educational institutions and the general public seeing tolerance — or “respect, acceptance, and appreciation of the rich diversity of our world’s ways of being human” — as a staple of society. The day is meant to generate public awareness of the dangers of intolerance.

Communication professor Srividya “Srivi” Ramasubramanian. Photo: provided.

Srividya “Srivi” Ramasubramanian, a professor in the Department of Communication, is one of many College of Liberal Arts experts in areas of diversity, inclusion, and tolerance. Along with her scholarly focuses on media and diversity, media literacy, dialogues, bias reduction, and inclusive communication, she draws on her own everyday experiences in and out of the classroom.  

In her undergraduate years in India, she was one of 18 women in a student population of 2,000 at her college; not to mention she went to a Jesuit college, even though she was raised as a Hindu. It shaped her interest in gender roles and biases. Similarly, in her master’s program, she learned about advertising, media, and their relationships with youth. In working toward her Ph.D. at Penn State, she engaged with cutting-edge research in media psychology and implicit bias.

During her time at Penn State, the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001 occurred. Ramasubramanian was even more aware of what it meant to be brown and a minority as she experienced resulting racial tensions. Therefore, her sensibilities toward diversity and inclusion were derived from these experiences of being a minority in social, educational, and political contexts.

“These experiences shaped my choice of what I study and what I do,” said Ramasubramanian. “These experiences of living as a woman, as an immigrant, as an Indian American, gave me perspective on what it means to be minoritized in certain contexts.”

Come and feast at the table of diversity

“Diversity is an act of nature — it is a celebration of differences,” Ramasubramanian said. According to her, everybody brings something different to the table.

“Diversity is an act of nature — it is a celebration of differences.”

In higher-education contexts, diversity might be shaped by recruitment and retention of minority groups (especially based on race and gender). But diversity is so much more. It’s about many intersecting identities such as age, disabilities, social class, nationality, sexual orientation, religion, and so on.

Beyond merely tolerating differences, it is important to move toward acceptance and inclusion. Ramasubramanian made the analogy that tolerance is like swallowing bitter medicine reluctantly; whereas acceptance is like appreciating the qualities and benefits of all items served on your plate. 

“Inclusion is about actively creating a welcoming environment for those who are typically marginalized by social institutions, where they feel they belong and can flourish,” Ramasubramanian said. 

She sees it as extending a warm invitation to a buffet potluck that caters to various dietary needs, especially making sure those who otherwise might feel left out to feel belonged and have a fair share to eat. At the table of diversity, everyone has a place to sit and feel included. 

Yet sometimes in the pursuit of inclusion, people can say they are “color-blind” or “gender blind,” which Ramasubramanian said is a form of racism or sexism. 

These claims can imply that differences don’t matter. It doesn’t acknowledge people’s unique offers to the table of diversity. Ramasubramanian said that in the name of neutrality and equitability, people might reinforce inequalities because they don’t take fixed policies and procedures into consideration.

The banquet at Texas A&M

Ramasubramanian overlooks a small group at the 2019 Difficult Dialogues initiative. It is an event that is open to faculty, staff, and students to come and have a dialogue about race relations. Photo: Madison Brown.

Fortunately, Texas A&M is taking steps forward to be an inclusive and welcoming campus. And Ramasubramanian thinks that Texas A&M is a very diverse place.

“Texas A&M is a world-class facility that attracts people from around the world,” said Ramasubramanian. 

However, it wasn’t always like this. Texas A&M was founded as a land-grant college with a mandate for an all-male, all-military segregated student body. In the 1960s, women and African Americans were admitted into the university on a limited basis. In the last 50 years, A&M has become more inclusive of minority groups, through more diverse traditions, programmatic initiatives, and retention efforts. Diversity at A&M is an ongoing process that requires time and care. 

Ramasubramanian sees the importance given to diversity in the quantity and quality of the 1,000 plus student organizations. “Regardless of who you are as an Aggie, there is always a student group where you can build a sense of community.” Aggie core values, such as respect, go hand-in-hand with advocating inclusion and diversity. 

There are practical ways we can promote diversity and inclusion. Ramasubramanian tells her students to meet people from different countries, social classes, religions, and sexual orientations. She encourages students to go to events and workshops, such as her “Difficult Dialogues” initiative that she has been leading since 2016, to have hard, yet beneficial conversations with diverse groups of people. It starts with accepting communities different from your own and having thoughtful dialogues. 

A buffet of knowledge in the liberal arts

The College of Liberal Arts is a natural place where diversity thrives, flourishes, and impacts many lives in positive ways. 

“The College of Liberal Arts is the leader on the topic of diversity on this campus,” said Ramasubramanian.

“The College of Liberal Arts is the leader on the topic of diversity on this campus.”

According to Ramasubramanian, diversity and inclusion are pivotal to the curriculum and instruction in the liberal arts courses. Liberal arts undergraduates, like others on this campus, are required to take at least two courses that are central to inclusion, climate, and diversity. Furthermore, all liberal arts courses are rigorous and are taken by students in and outside of the College; therefore, the whole university benefits from the priorities of the College of Liberal Arts. She sees this as the College taking initiative in building faculty, staff, and students toward inclusive and holistic excellence. 

“Diversity and inclusion are some of the top priorities in our College,” Ramasubramanian said. “It is found not only in our teaching but in our research projects, service learning projects, and the many events and workshops hosted by the College’s centers such as the Glasscock Center for Humanities Research.”

Our College brings together people from different academic disciplines, such as the humanities, social sciences, and brain sciences, to examine and promote diversity interests. 

Therefore, the priorities of diversity and inclusion are at the forefront of our College on days beyond commemoration, like International Day for Tolerance. It is an everyday, ongoing pursuit.