August 29, 2003

By Charlotte Crystal

The spotlight fell first upon Anna McCrerey, a pretty, blond-haired woman who says she never leaves the house without putting on her mascara and likes to shop for clothes. She doesn’t fit the stereotype of a tough lesbian who sports a crew cut and dresses in T-shirts and jeans.

"It’s the heterosexual assumptions I find most difficult and challenging at U.Va.," McCrerey said. "I can’t always speak up."

The difficulty of always speaking up, and the need for sensitivity and tolerance from others, were among the common threads that bound the eight student and faculty speakers who shared their experiences in "Different Voices, Common Threads." The program, which examines issues of diversity, was offered for the first time this year as part of the first-year students’ orientation to the University. Small group discussions followed the presentation on Tuesday.

The program was developed by the Office of the Dean of Students in response to two racial incidents that occurred at U.Va. during the past school year. One involved a Halloween costume party at a fraternity last fall when three white students dressed in blackface. The second occurred in February, when Daisy Lundy, a student of Korean and African-American heritage who was then a candidate for president of the Student Council, reported being the victim of a racially motivated attack on Grounds.

"We are grateful to see so many of you here," said Gene Block, vice president and provost as he opened the third of three consecutive offerings of the program in a packed Old Cabell Hall. "It shows the seriousness with which you are taking the issue."

The program opened with a slide show illustrating U.Va. and Virginia history narrated by Jacintha Tabalujan, a third-year student in architecture, and David Gies, Commonwealth Professor of Spanish.

The first U.Va. class, in 1825, consisted of 40 students, all white males.

"There was no particular date when the University began to diversify," Tabalujan said. But since the beginning, U.Va. has grown in size and diversity, and its student body now tops 19,000 students, graduate and undergraduate, and has diversified in terms of race, gender, ethnicity, religion, ability, age, geography, class and nationality, making the class of ’07 the most diverse ever.

"The common thread is that we are all here to obtain an education at one of the most prestigious universities in the country," Tabalujan said.

"But the University’s progress toward becoming a racially integrated, co-educational institution did not happen without considerable pain and controversy," noted Gies.

Gies stood back as 50 years of headlines from the Cavalier Daily flashed by on the screen, illustrating the consternation that accompanied many of the social changes sweeping through U.Va., changes such as the arrival of women: "Miniskirts on Mr. Jefferson’s Lawn?" And the departure of a song: "Pep Band Stops Playing ‘Dixie.’"

The students, most of whom were born only 18 years ago, in 1985, watched silently as history unfolded before them in the darkened hall.

Gies noted the positive developments as the years unfolded. The founding in 1972 of the International Center. The establishment of the Office of Afro-American [now African-American] Affairs in 1976. The creation of an Asian student union. The growth of a Latino and Hispanic presence on Grounds and the hiring of two new assistant deans in 1998-99 to help with Asian and Hispanic affairs.

"The University exists in the context of the broader American society," Gies said. As American society lurched in pursuit of justice, equality and fairness for all, "sometimes U.Va. lagged behind and sometimes it led."

After the slide show, the speakers representing the "different voices" took their seats on the stage, which was bathed in darkness. One by one, the speakers stood and were captured in a spotlight.

Robert Covert stood, his long, gray hair and flowing beard contrasting with the fresh, clean-shaven faces flanking him. An associate professor in the Curry School’s Department of Leadership, Foundations and Policy, Covert teaches a class on multicultural education.

"It’s not enough to have a diverse population, people need to talk about diversity," Covert said. "Don’t’ just hang out with your friends … You learn the most from people who don’t share your opinions. It takes courage to step out of your comfort zone. But these experiences will prepare you to live in the country we live in."

One of the most dramatic presentations came when Justin Steele stood and said: "F--k you, n----r." There was shocked silence and a nervous titter in the audience as he paused, then explained that a carload of kids had pulled up and hurled that expletive at him in his second year as he walked home late one night after studying in the library for exams.

"How would you feel?" he asked the audience. "How would you react?"

Steele, whose mother is white and whose father is black, quoted Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in urging the students to work for racial justice.

Another student, Rabeen Pasha, grew up in northern Iraq and saw his father murdered before his eyes. His family made its way to the United States.

"It wasn’t hard to learn English," he said, in fluent, but slightly accented English. "But it’s been hard to get people to try to understand me in spite of my accent. … People are quick to judge others instead of getting to know them as individuals."

After a tough first year, during which he considered transferring to another school, Pasha helped organize "Children of War," a powerful presentation by U.Va. students who had experienced war firsthand. The success of that initiative inspired Pasha to seek other areas where he thought he could make a contribution. "I began to get involved and became an active part of the University."

"I learned not to give up," he said. After running for Student Council and losing the election, he ran again and won. "I learned that it’s OK to ask for help. … We have a responsibility to educate each other and learn from each other and a responsibility to carry on this tradition."