Recently I had a conversation with a friend of mine here at EVCC about the Students of Color Conference in Yakima that our school took part in a few weeks ago. From that conversation came forth a few different opinions, one of them I immediately took mental note of: the notion that ethnic centered groups and events are inherently cliquish and do harm to full campus integration.

The clubs at Everett Community College are welcome to everyone on campus. First Nations member Becka Cesspooch says, "Clubs are for everyone, regardless of ethnic background but are meant to also serve as a place for interaction and familiarity." Campus opinion is widespread, but still followed a general trend, student Tajanna Stinn added, "I don't think they're bad. I don't have the urge to join one of them, but I could see how they could be beneficial and raise cultural awareness." Others still, aren't sure exactly what purpose they serve, student Chad Collins asked, "Is it a culture thing? Then no, I don't know if I'd say they're cliquish. I don't really know what goes on in those clubs."

The fact is, any form of assembly has the potential to transform itself into something others might consider "cliquish". But to argue the point that minority groups and more specifically, ethnic minority groups at our school forming student unions or clubs inherently and systematically stifles "full campus integration" is pretty absurd.

Campus Awareness days have almost always featured booths from the various ethnic minority clubs here, including the Black Student Union, Asian Pacific Islander Student Union and First Nations. "All of our diversity clubs on campus are support groups essentially." said Becka Cesspooch. The re-enforcement and moral support they offer could be paramount to the individuals involved. They have the ability to help build the confidence and bonds that those who call for "integration" possible. "They are not cliques, they are communities." she adds. The reason ethnic minority groups are called minorities is simple: they are in the minority.

While asking for opinion on the topic, a common question (albeit rhetorical) was often asked: "If we formed any sort of white student unions, wouldn't there be a huge outcry?" It would appear to some of the people I talked to (and know personally), that in an age of occasional blind reactionary political correctness and policies such as affirmative action, that people of European ancestry are unfairly singled out in a war of "fighting racism with even more racism."

But the actual dynamics at work here are in fact, color blind. Minority groups formed at Everett Community College, as in other parts of society, specifically to help those within that group have a sense of security, community and campus involvement, not to fulfill a form of racial or cultural supremacy through veiled discrimination.

Coming from a multi-ethnic (Caucasian and Asian) background myself, I fully understand the need for such communities, especially on campus. But I can also understand the sometimes seemingly paradoxical and arbitrary importance that is put on "race." I grew up with plenty of identity issues specifically because of my mixed heritage. I eventually came to the logical conclusion that my ethnic make up had no actual effect on the sort of person I was. I wasn't genetically programmed to prefer kim-chi to lutefisk, or to be prone to pick pocketing because part of my ancestry traced back to Southern and Eastern Europe. I may in fact, exhibit these preferences due to a type of cultural conditioning, not because it's written in my DNA. However life affirming that revelation may have been, I still faced the reality that others wouldn't just judge me on my character, although I have been fortunate enough to have met more people who have than haven't.

Besides racial differences, there are plenty of cultural differences that still separate people. For these exact reasons, working to open dialogue and understanding are not only essential, but also relevant. Minority clubs of all varieties have the potential to do just that.