By: Kelly Rockey
Students at Whatcom Community College were able to show their roots this past week as the Programming and Diversity Board (PDB) put on their Make Your Mark event. Students were invited to come to Syre Student Center May 15 and mark where they are from on a world map.
The idea behind the event was to visually represent the diversity of Whatcom’s student body in a way that students could see how far our peers have come to attend the college.
“We wanted to encourage diversity on campus, and have people take it wholeheartedly,” said Whatcom student and PDB member Marcelina Santana.
The event initially began with students placing one pin on the map, but students started asking if they could place more than one pin because they identify themselves as being from more than one place.
Some people started to put pins not only where they grew up, but also where their family ancestries were from. Santana said it was an unforeseen turn of events for PDB members and was also an eye-opening experience for some.
“If you consider yourself something, then that is who you are,” said Whatcom student Vicky Matey, who is also on the PDB. Matey said that placing multiple pins on the map allowed students to “self-identify” where they consider themselves from, whether through direct geological location or indirect family lineage.
Student ethnicity has become a popular topic in Bellingham, partially because of the controversial statements recently made by Western Washington University’s President Bruce Shepard that Western’s student body is “too white.”
Students who attended the event to mark where they came from on the map did not seem to see a lack of diversity on their campus, and with more than 200 international students at the college, it is easy to see this diversity represented in the student body.
“Whatcom is bigger than you think,” said Whatcom student and PDB member Marques Reynolds. “Not in the number of people, but more in [their] diversity. It shocks students to see how widely spread the Whatcom community really is.”
Other students shared similar notions about diversity at Whatcom and the Make Your Mark map gave a visual representation of the diversity on campus, especially in regards to self-identity.
“It gives people the opportunity to see how diverse Whatcom is, and lets people know that they’re not alone,” Whatcom student Celiann George said at the event. “Instead of peoples’ assumptions, you can choose for yourself.”
Whatcom student Sukhdip Singh was one of many individuals that placed multiple pins on the map. Singh said he was raised in Greece and has family ties back to India.
“We can see that Bellingham is diverse,” said Singh. “This is bringing students together and making them aware of the different people and different cultures on campus.”
“We were trying to portray diversity on campus, and show that [Whatcom] is open to all kinds of people. We have people from all over the world and they all connect back to Bellingham,” said Whatcom student and PDB member Nilly Wasef.
The coordinators in charge of the event said they were pleased to see the results produced on the map, as well as the underlying message that Whatcom’s student body is rich in diversity.
“It was such a positive event, and made me happy to be at Whatcom,” Matey said. “We are all one. We’re all different, but we’re all one.”
