Students, staff and faculty debated how to enhance diversity on campus Wednesday afternoon. NIU’s Affirmative Action and Diversity Resources (AADR) office hosted the dialogue.

The program, titled “Collective Stories and Cultural Experiences,” included a discussion of cultural identity on the NIU campus.

“Boy, do we have stories to tell,” said Francisco Solares-Larrave, an assistant professor of Spanish. “When I came [to America], I found a different set of values than what I grew up with.”

The three-person panel agreed that the experiences each individual has before he or she comes to college shapes what he or she thinks about higher education, and provides for the future.

“I think our experiences mold and shape who we are,” said Monique Bernoudy, associate athletics director. “I use the analogy of a backpack. It gets packed pretty early. Your family packs it. Society packs it, and eventually, you take it off your back and decide what you want to keep and use.”

Bernoudy wants people to get past the concept of tolerance, and move toward the more inclusive goal of acceptance, especially on campus.

“Tolerance just means, ‘I’m going to deal with you,’” she said. “I think we need to get beyond that and really embrace our differences.”

Rachel Turner, president of Believing in Culture and the Student Association director of Cultural Affairs, said that finding her identity is more complicated than just examining race, and required her to look at her social groups.

“Sometimes I couldn’t figure out which role I was in,” she said. “Am I RHA Rachel or am I SA Rachel?”

Much of the conversation was about training students, faculty and staff to understand diversity.

“We need to provide … training for all of our faculty and staff,” said AADR coordinator Diane Tyrrell, “so that when we have new people come to campus, we approach them in a friendly, open manner.”

Bernoudy said she’s seen increased cultural representation on campus since employees have begun commuting from other towns.

“I think that has been a blessing in terms of changing the cultural climate here for diversity,” she said, “now that faculty live in diverse communities.”

AADR holds conferences like this nearly three times every spring. The next event will be in March.