7 Reveling in our differences A look at culture, politics and religion on campus Diversity at Langara: A 4 eS eh Sere Members of the Langara Sikh Association gather with students from UBC and SFU at an event held last August to discuss religion and faith. sugmi77E0 PHOTO Welcoming a range of religions Faith-focused clubs foster multitude of beliefs on campus By JASON GILDER eligious diversity can be a hot-button topic and with the multitude of different religions at Langara College, students say they feel secure expressing their faith and beliefs because of the range of diversity. The large number of student clubs at Langara dedicated to different faiths is a testament to the diversity of beliefs. This semester, there are half a dozen ac- tive religious clubs — three focusing on Christianity, one on Islam, one on Juda- ism and one on Sikhism. Second-year science student Jaspreet Singh, who is a member of the Langara Sikh Association, said that he noticed the diversity of religions on campus at Clubs Day when all the academic, campus because of how many other re- ligions there are. Jessica Gao, organizer for the Chris- sports and cul- tian group tural — student “ . Every Nation clubs gathered I Saw many different Campus, — said together in the main foyer of the campus. “I saw many stations... A Muslim station, Christian, that Langara is unusual in its openness —_to- wards religion. ; - : ” - different sta J ewl sh . She com tions, Singh pared the col- said. “There was | ~JASPREET SINGH, MEMBER OFLANGARASIKH | Jene to SFU. * ? a Muslim sta- ASSOCIATION where Every tion, Christian, Jewish.” Singh said that he feels very welcome at Langara to express his Sikh faith on Nation Campus was first established. “The environment here is more open and welcoming,” Gao said. “It’s very diverse here in terms of religion and faith.” Gao said it is easier to talk to stu- dents about religious issues at Langara and think the reason is because at SFU students are very focused on their stud- ies and less willing to take time away from academic pursuits. President of the Sikh club Sukhman- deep Singh said such faith-focused clubs are about more than just religion. He pointed out that several mem- bers of the association are international students living in Canada for the first time. The support given by the Sikh club, along with the multiculturalism of Canada, he said, can make it an easier transition for students. No time for political debates Students open to dialogue but lack time By SHOJI WHITTIER hile many students at Lan- gara College feel their po- litical views can be shared openly on campus, few have enough time to get politically involved or put their views into action before they graduate. Paul Prosperi, department chair of the Langara political science depart- ment, said Langara’s role as a university transfer college limits political activism on campus. The high student turnover rate, he explained, means there isn’t enough continuity among students to set up political clubs. “Somebody will come and say they want to start a [political club], and that club will exist for a year or two, and then it dies when that individual transfers to SFU or UBC,” Prosperi said. “[Activ- ism] requires an investment in time and energy on the part of people, so if you don’t have a culture on campus where that takes place, it acts as a barrier to people getting involved.” Amit Mahajan, a business manage- ment student, said that he isn’t po- litically active but he would like to see more political events on campus. “T don’t have much interest in these things, but it should be more encour- aged, there should be rallies and things like that,” Mahajan said. That is not to say that political views cannot be shared at Langara. Many students said the college allows for free discussion of politics. Jenna Loewen, enrolled in the Latin- American studies program, said she finds Langara and B.C. to be more accepting of various political opinions than other places she has lived. “Tm from Alberta, and it is not easy to be [political] there,” Loewen said. “There’s a lot of diversity [here], and a lot more acceptance for open conversa- tion in regards to policies.” Percentage of students that are international at Langara. Number of countries where five or fewer Langara students are from. Percentage of international stu- dents in British Columbia. SOURCES: LANGARA INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH BOARD AND STATISTICS CANADA Students seek out diversity or Still not enough cultural variety, students say By DUNCAN ANDERSON tudents travel from around the S world to get an education at Lan- gara College and, with more than 80 countries represented by interna- tional students, cultural diversity shows up both in and outside the classroom. For some students, the promise of diversity is what drew them to Langara. Business student William Ieong said multiculturalism was an important ele- ment in his choice of college. “One of the reasons I came to Lan- gara is that it helped me to understand other cultures,” Ieong said. “How they connect to each other is really interest- ing if you learn their backgrounds or maybe learn their language too.” This desire to know more about other cultures led Jeong to the Langara Chi- nese Students and Scholars Association, where he is now the events administra- tor. He said the club gives Chinese stu- dents the chance to make friends more easily. “We have an event every month with three big events throughout the year that contain around 100 people,” leong said. Not all cultural events on campus directly aim to celebrate diversity. Jessie Smith, board member of the interdis- ciplinary studies department, said that Latin America Week, held earlier this month, was organized to promote the academic program but many students attended to experience Latino culture and food. “One of our instructors and her mother cooked food [from the An- dean region] for the event,” Smith said. “Some of the students who showed up had never tried it before and they loved it.” Some students on campus do not think there is as much diversity as ex- pected though. Kosta Kolokatsis, a modern languag- es instructor at Columbia College who is enrolled in the Latin American stud- ies program at Langara, said that it is difficult to find genuine cultural diver- sity because of a predominance of some nationalities. “If you want the cultural diversity, you can't get ... that in the classroom be- cause there are majority groups and they campus dominate,” Kolokatsis said. Nearly a quarter of students at Lan- gara come from abroad, according to a report by the college's Institutional Re- search Board using data from Fall 2016. Of those, 45 per cent were from India and 24 per cent from China. Students load their plates at A taste of Los Andes during Latin America Week. CASS LUCKE PHOTO