Student Spotlight: The Importance of Diversity

By Dayne Carter, FCRH '15

Last year, I had the opportunity to participate in Fordham University’s Diversity Conference that took place in McGinley Ballroom.  The event took place early Saturday afternoon and consisted of workshops presented by successful Fordham alumni, musical performances, and the guest speaker happened to be my father, Anthony P. Carter (FCRH '76) the Chief Diversity Officer and Johnson & Johnson.  It was a great experience being able to network and establish a relationship with many of the guests.  The guests in attendance were of many different ethnicities and all had very differing work backgrounds.  One alumnus worked as a news reporter for NBC, while another was a practicing physician.  Overall, the event was a success in that it was well organized and very informative to the students.  My only criticism was the attendance amongst the student body could have been more.

Fordham’s campus is located right outside New York City, one of the largest melting pots in the world.  There are millions of people living here from all over the map, and we all help contribute to the cultural beauty that is NYC.  However, with that said, we don’t always have to take trips to Manhattan to witness it.  We don’t have to look further than our student body here on campus to appreciate diversity.  One of the main reasons I chose to attend Fordham was because of the opportunity it provided for me in forming friendships with people that I would have otherwise never met.  There are people here from all different regions of the globe.  I have white friends, black friends, Asian, and Hispanic friends.  I have attended ASILI’s (the black student alliance) Black History month dinner one week and then the following gone to FUSE’s (Fordham University’s South-Asian Entity) Bollywood movie night.  I’ve have seen performances by Sláinte (Fordham’s Irish dance team) and have heard spoken word recitals in Spanish performed by members of Fordham’s Hispanic culture club, Academia Hispana.

Fordham is by no means the most diverse place in percentage, but it certainly is a place that consists of a diverse student body.  We often take for granted the fortune of being able to interact on a daily basis with people whom we considered to be different than us.  Diversity is so important, and we owe it to ourselves to celebrate and embrace it.

This year's event is entitled: "Diversity Leadership in a Global Society Conference," and will take place on March 4, 2015. For more information about event workshops and presentations, or to RSVP today, head to CareerLink > Events > Information Sessions.