University of Prince Edward Island

Welcome to the third issue of the Diversity Office Zine, Diversity Just Is. Our first issue was strictly a print version. Our second issues was printed and available on-line. This year we are strictly on-line -- it saves money and it saves trees. :0)

As usual, the zine is very eclectic, filled with art work, photos, prose, poetry, quotes, ideas, personal stories, and even recipes. I hope you enjoy viewing it as much as we enjoyed putting it together. A great number of the photographs in the zine represent the talented work of the folks in the UPEI Photography Department. Thank you!!

Many thanks to the Zine Team: Kevin Lin, Alyssia Farrington, Amanda MacNeil, Heather Tasker, Bonny Bu, Courtney Hughes, Jennifer Whittaker, Maggie Musclow, and Kim Slauenwhite. Thanks also to the many people who contributed material to the zine, and those who agreed to be interviewed by Alyssia and Kevin.

If you have any questions, please direct them to rfreeman@upei.ca or 628-4332.

Enjoy!!

Ruth Freeman
Equity Outreach Coordinator
UPEI Diversity Office

Starting with the Diversity Office volunteers seems logical, given that much of the work we do could not be accomplished without them. DO volunteers are diverse, talented, committed. unfailingly enthusiastic, and eager to be part of campus life in a way that fosters and develops community. A survey of volunteers this spring found that the best things about working with the DO were making new friends, working in groups, and learning new skills. 87% said they would volunteer again with the DO, while 13% said they would return if they are able. No one said they would not return.

My “Coming Out” Story
By Chris Gallant

Growing up in a small community in Canada’s smallest province, we were not really exposed to much diversity – conformity was the norm. But from the time I was quite young, I knew in the back of my mind that there was something different about me, although I wasn’t sure what. By the time I was ten, I knew it was my sexuality. There wasn’t anyone in my community that I could relate to, because the idea of homosexuality was simply unheard of – at least in polite conversations. I certainly didn’t know anyone who was openly gay, anyone who could answer my questions and help me figure how to understand what I was going through.

I lived completely in the closet until I was 17 years old. I was just one of the guys – playing sports, hanging out, dating girls. One day my girlfriend informed me that she had invited over three of her friends, and that they were gay. I panicked -- I didn’t know how to act around someone that was gay, I was naïve, and like everyone else in my home town, I knew nothing about their lives. So I just treated them like they were regular guys. I did talk to them a lot, and asked a couple of questions, and by the end of the night, we were all good friends. A couple weeks later, the relationship with my girlfriend ended, but we stayed really good friends. I think maybe she knew.

About a month later, in May 2005, I woke up at 4:00 am and couldn’t get back to sleep. I kept thinking about those guys I had met. We had a good time, and they weren’t scared of anyone beating them up or making fun of them. I was intrigued by the positive attitude they had. I processed this for awhile, and finally clued in to the obvious: Why would I want to live the rest of my life denying my sexuality and be miserable when I could be happy? Why indeed?

The next day I stopped on my way to town at a convenience store. I knew the woman who worked there and we often had long conversations that lasted for hours. I walked into the store, looked her in the eye, and said: “I’m gay.” It was the first time I said it out loud. I started to sweat, and yet – at the same time – I felt like ten tons of bricks had been lifted off my chest. She looked at me and said, “Good for you,” as if it was no big deal. I looked back at her, expecting more, but she simply congratulated me for coming out. She also lectured me for not telling my parents first.

I left the store and went to pick up my best friend. When we got to the intersection of Granville and Walker streets in Summerside, I dropped the bomb on him. Again, it felt like someone had removed a ton of bricks off my chest. And it turns out that he really wasn’t shocked at all.

I decided to hold off telling anyone else right away and let everything sink in. Two days later, I took my mom out for a drive and told her I was gay. For the most part, she handled it well, considering that all her future – and very traditional – plans for me had disappeared in the time it takes to say two words. I told my sister a month later at 2:00 am coming home from work. While I tried to keep the car on the road, she laughed and cried. I also told some people I was close to at the restaurant where I worked, and a few other close friends. It seemed to go well at first, and then everything fell apart.

Mid-way through June was grad time me for at École Évangéline. The week before safe grad, someone from work told a girl I was graduating with that I was gay. She then told another girl, and the word soon got out to the entire graduating class. The following Friday, I was working when some fellow graduates came in to eat. I was busy serving other customers and did not get a chance to speak to them. After they left, one of the other servers asked me if they were my friends. I explained that I had grown up with them, and we were graduating together, but they were not my closest friends. “Well,” she said, handing me a comment card from their table, “If they are friends, they aren’t very good ones.” I looked at the card: “You make good mayo, Fag.” Hurt to my core, I ripped up the card, went to the manager’s office, told her what had happened, and announced that I wouldn’t be going to safe grad. She looked me straight in the eye and said: “If you let something like this stop you, you’ll never do anything in life. You are going or I’ll kick you in the ass.” So later on the following week I went to safe grad and had a blast. At the start, it was awkward with all the guys, but I ended up having the time of my life.

Gaining courage from that experience, I decided to tell my father that I was gay. He had a harder time with it than my mother; he had been raised with strong convictions in the Catholic Church and a firm belief in bible teachings, but he eventually came around too. A month later, I heard another man in my community had come out, and not long after so did a good friend and two girls as well. My coming out was all that four other people in the area needed to help them decide to emerge and be true to themselves. Just one person can make a difference, can help others out of the “closet” and into a greater sense of freedom.

How Cultural Differences Influence Business
By
Xi Ran and Yao Ma

Business students Xi Ran and Yao Ma made culture the focus of a final research paper for their Business 495 class this semester. The object of their research was “to determine how cultural differences influence business.”

Their research hypotheses:

Business students are lacking sensitivity towards the role that cultural differences play in the business world;
Business students’ knowledge about different cultures is somehow unconsciously limited;
University education has a large impact on the way students react when confronted with cross-cultural situations;
The adaptability, flexibility and capability of coping with cross-cultural business scenarios are necessities in business.

They conducted a literature review, devised and administered a survey to third-year business students, and interviewed three members of the Business Faculty about their own experiences with international education and working abroad. Their findings led to the conclusion that education about international business needs to be strengthened, and that more opportunities for business students to learn about different cultures need to be provided.

An open-ended question on the survey elicited some good ideas about how to improve cultural understanding on campus;

School should offer more language, international business or culture courses. Some of them should be required courses in the degree audit;
Language courses could be offered as electives.
Create chances for international students to have their voices heard and encourage them to share their cultures;
Promote the current Diversity Week more;
Forced group work with international students;
International students inform class about their culture through presentations and handouts;
Guest speakers and workshops about international business;
School should offer more exchange programs.

Interviews with Professors Gary Evans, Alan Duncan, Edward Gamble revealed many similar opinions, including:

Reinforcing the support from faculty to international students both in and out of class;
Promote culture-related classes amongst students;
Start a well-organized exchange program, which could implement several approaches;
Agreement on the importance of cultural learning and culture’s role in terms of business skills development.

The recommendations resulting from the research paper are:

Create more exchange opportunities for students;
Provide cultural information to students through new media, since it is the main way for them to know other cultures;
Add more courses about culture and international business to curricula.

Further Research

The objective of this research report was to find how cultures influence business. However, the research process narrowly focused on a limited number of business students and business faculty members, which means the research was done on a small scale. Since the topic is about doing business in the international perspective, it is better to go out to business people. It is also necessary to distribute the surveys to more business students. There are some areas on which further research should be focused:

How to get more students involved and be aware of culture’s role in doing business;
How to encourage students to go out and explore other cultures;
How to find the most efficient communication method between the international and domestic students;
If it is possible to make International Business course (BUS 278) mandatory;
What kind of new media that should be provided by school to improve the international cultural education at business department.

If you would like to read the entire paper, please click htt p://studentservices.upei.ca/files/studentservices/Ran and Ma_0.pdf

Kelton Thomason is from Nova Scotia originally, and is a graduate of Acadia University. He is the Manager of Residence Services at UPEI, responsible for all areas of Residence Life as they relate to Blanchard, Andrew, and Bernadine Halls.

Question: What are some of the challenges you face as a manager of residences filled with students who represent broad diversities?

Response: Some of the challenges are communication barriers; the simplest of things can challenge you in many ways. Meeting the expectations of the students-- both local and international -- and encouraging a level of mutual respect among students sometimes requires a bit of effort, but it is well worth the investment. Another challenge involves incorporating understanding and acceptance among student residents. Fortunately, there are many opportunities in residence to break away from peer groups and learn about another culture.

Question: If you had just one piece of advice -- to give students in residence -- about living with diversity, what would it be?

Response: Kelton has some good advice for new and returning students – both local and international – engaging in UPEI residence life. Be curious and open about what is going on; although it is normal to be hesitant when facing the unknown, it is worthwhile to learn about something new. He recommends making “this part of your co-curriculum learning, something learned outside the classroom. The potential to learn is amazing here at UPEI, especially in residence. There are so many resources at one’s disposable. Don’t be afraid to explore and use them.”

Challenges Met by REALLY (Im)Mature Students at UPEI
By Rick Ashton and Kim Slauenwhite

While the university recognizes students aged 21 and over as Mature Students, some of us haven't seen 21 for a very long time. So, we thought it might be interesting to talk about some of the challenges met by those of us who are well past that age. Here's what we came up with:

all students have to worry about the costs of tuition, textbooks, meals, etc. Those of us with homes that we either own or rent have the added stress of worrying about paying said mortgage/rent, utility bills, transportation costs (gas, car insurance, car registration, etc) and any other bills associated with running a household.
speaking of running a household, going to university full time at a somewhat, umm, more advanced age, can really test a person's time management skills. Not only are there tests and exams to study for, assignments to do, and other related class work , but there is also housework (ugh! not Kim's favorite), meals to prepare, other members of the household to connect with (both human and non-human in some instances), bills to pay on time, grocery shopping (very annoying to crave spaghetti all day only to find when you get home that you forgot to buy the pasta and then have to go out again to get it or think of something else to eat!) and anything else that is required to make a household run smoothly (well, most of the time any way)
neither one of us was quite prepared for the amount of time that is required to get the assignments completed and to study for tests. Are we slowing down?
when registering, it seems like students have to run all over campus to get everything done (i.e registration in one building, payments in same building but on a different floor, parking passes somewhere else entirely, books in another building). For those not familiar with the campus, and of a slightly (?) more advanced age, this process can take awhile. We jokingly decided that administration does this on purpose so that mature students can get fit while becoming familiar with the layout of the campus (or to have fun watching us wander aimlessly in circles!)
test and assignment requirements appear to be different for each professor. This can make it hard to know what is expected of students if you haven't had that professor before. Change is not as easy as it once was. Sigh……
(This one is from Kim) When a professor says: "You'll remember this from high school…" Um, ok, I realize that most of the student population has fairly recently been in high school, but some of us haven't seen the inside of a high school in, oh, about 24 -25 years or more. And, speaking strictly for myself, even when I WAS in high school I was much more interested in finding out when and where the next party was , so.....
overall, we do enjoy our experience here at UPEI. There is a lot of support for students here both academically and personally. Staff at the Webster Centre, Student Services, and the Robertson Library are very helpful, and despite our advanced years, we are proud to be students here.

Jennifer Taylor was born and raised in Prince Edward Island. She obtained her BSc in Home Economics from UPEI, and her MSc and PhD in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Toronto. She lives in Cornwall with her husband Glen Melanson (who also teaches at UPEI) and their sons Ben and Will.

Question: What role do you believe faculty has in educating their students about diversity, and making them aware of difference?

Response: As a parent and a teacher, Jennifer acknowledges that for young people being seen as “different” is the same as being “not at all cool.” She believes feels that faculty at UPEI can play an important role in establishing tolerance and an appreciation of difference within the classroom. Jennifer knows that most students will not be completely accepting of diversity, but they should be tolerant until the better understand it. For her, diversity “is not a case of pointing out something strange, but rather asking and being curious about the differences.” As a teacher, she tries to set the stage for her students and model how one should be behave around the subject of diversity, and “hope that after everything you have taught them something is absorbed.”

Question: What was your own most challenging moment when it comes to difference, and how did you deal with it, and/or what did you learn from it?

Jennifer recalls an example from one of her classes when income level became the “difference” that separated people. Two students who came from opposite ends of the income scale were taking part in a class discussion about struggling with poverty. The student from a privileged background talked about how degrading it was to have to ride a bus for the first time, wearing designer clothing. Where she lived, taking a bus would be considered a sign of poverty. The student who had much less money said nothing, but her expression showed that she could not understand how this could be considered a struggle.

From this experience, Jennifer learned an important lesson: having too much is not that different from having too little. “As a professor, you always have to be on your toes during discussions. You never know what another person might be going through simply based on the outward appearance”. She reminds us that diversity is present on campus and it’s best that everyone embrace it as a chance to learn something new and expand their thinking.

Anthony Yu was born and raised in Charlottetown. Last year he completed a 1-year program at Holland College, and then transferred to UPEI to study theatre, which is his passion.

The Senbazuru Project

The Mission
My mission is to single-handedly fold a senbazuru –a thousand paper cranes- before my 20^th birthday on May 4. During this time, I am asking that people pledge money to encourage me. When I am finished folding and assembling the senbazuru, I will put it up for auction. All money collected will then be donated to help relief efforts in Japan.

Behind the Mission
This project started out as a part of my bucket list. After folding cranes at the "1000 Paper Cranes" event at the Confederation Court Mall on March 19, I decided I wanted to try folding 1000 paper cranes by myself before I die. At first I wanted to fold them between my 20^th and 30^th birthday, but a decade was too long a period; instead, I decided to fold them for my upcoming birthday. However, I would have no purpose for them after I finished. My father and a friend suggested I send them to Japan, but I didn’t feel they would have a use for it: there’s a sentimental value, but no practicality to it. I decided that the end product would be put up for auction, with the money going to relief efforts. That way someone here can appreciate it and feel a personal connection to the cause, and people in Japan can benefit from the donation. Since I am doing this project completely by myself, I am hoping that people will help me by donating money.

If you would like to sponsor Anthony's project, please contact him at: anthony_yu14@hotmail.com Funds raised will be donated to the Red Cross Japan Relief Fund.

The 4th annual Connecting Aboriginal Cultures was held at UPEI in March. This event started small four years ago, and has since grown into a 2-day event with participants coming from all over Atlantic Canada and the eastern United States. It is a time of dancing, drumming, singing and storytelling, crafts and workshops, and traditional foods. The event is hosted by the Mawi'omi Aboriginal Student Resource Centre at UPEI, partnering with the Webster Center at UPEI, the Native Council of Prince Edward Island, and Mi'kmaq Confederacy of Prince Edward Island

We had lots of requests for recipes for the "Dips From Around the World" served during Diversity Week. So with thanks to Samantha Smith, Danielle Farrell and friends, here they are: