Cledis Stuart speaks to Honors Seminar class on diversity.
Cledis Stuart, SAU's assistant dean of Multicultural Services, addressed both sections of the Honors Seminar class Wednesday, October 27, 2010. He began by asking each class to define diversity. One student responded that it was like "variety." Stuart added that the word "differences" nearly always appears in definitions of diversity.
As he has gotten older, Stuart said he had become more and more comfortable with change. He alluded to an experience he had in high school where he and some classmates had learned to use the BASIC computer language only to discover soon after that their college had already gone on to use other, newer, and more advanced languages. That experience, he said, was one of his first one with the concept of change.
His college days, he said, where a period of "culture shock." At that time in his life he had no idea who he really was. He went on to say that self-awareness was the first step in understanding diversity. Unless you know who you are, you cannot hope to know who others are, especially when they come from different cultures.
Stuart asked the class to comment on SAU's culture and then to understand that different places all have their own cultures. People carry their culture with them, he noted. He gave an example of his college roommate, who was from New Orleans. Everywhere his roommate went, he took New Orleans and its culture with him. Similarly, everyone carries their culture with them and although it might change or evolve it is unrealistic to expect them to conform to someone else's culture. That is not what diversity is about.
Cledis Stuart's office is on the second floor of Reynold's Hall. Be sure to drop by sometime and exchange some diversity with him.
Cledis Stuart about to answer a student's question.
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