A Message to the Entire Washington University Community

 I do not speak for any group, SU recognized or otherwise. I have remained silent on this issue thus far, because I did not believe it to be as prominent as I do now, but the time has come for me to speak up. I have had it with the attitude regarding cultural diversity on this campus. There has been a lot of talk about talking, but the dialogue on this campus fails to address the issue in its totality. Last night, treasury failed to fund bringing a speaker to campus with extensive experience in integrating different groups of people in a very diverse environment, simply because of cost. It is my opinion that while you can put a price on the speaker, you cannot put a price on the message. There was a lot of talk at the treasury meeting about "the right time" for certain speakers. Well my friends, the time is now and the message could not be more clear. This university claims to be proud of it's diversity, and perhaps they are, but when certain minorities are not given equal opportunity to have their voices heard (or their events funded) because of limited representation, and ignorance runs abound on this campus about various groups, there is a problem, and it's not just a black and white problem. It's a latino problem, it's an asian problem, it's everyone's problem. My parents don't pay all this money for me to attend this university and have to entertain ignorant comments like, "You're Puerto Rican? But you're so pale". To anyone who is still reading, my hope in writing this was not to incite a riot or bring about a revolution, but to encourage just a bit of thought regarding who we are as a community and what values we stand for. I am not part of a quota to be filled. I am a second-generation Puerto Rican male from Elgin, Illinois, and I am a WashU student.


Dennis Echevarria 
Can be reached at d.echevarria@wustl.edu