Dear reader, I hope to alarm you somewhat with this opinion piece. I hope to shock the crowd with my thoughts on a sensitive topic: ethnic minorities at Covenant.
I know that when confronted with this delicate topic, many white people who call the Covenant community home tend to switch into a defensive stance inwardly or grow quiet, feeling that they have nothing to contribute. But this is the wrong reaction. A healthy community demonstrates healthy interactions, which should always leave room for healthy discussion. This is why I think it’s completely appropriate for you to disagree with me. In fact, I hope that you reach out to me and give me your thoughts after reading this. This is an opinion piece, after all.
Covenant’s official colors are blue and white: even though this is not the cause, it attracts both the whites and the “blue-blooded.” What the college advertises, it collects. Looking at the college’s website and social media pages, one can find that the majority of the faces on display are Caucasian, with some ethnic faces sprinkled throughout. Just look at the freshman class photo and you’ll find that this year, once again, the predominant skin color to be seen is white and fair-skinned.
One way Covenant can continue to grow as a diverse body of students is by showcasing the nationalities represented on campus. Yes, I understand that just because one is fair of skin, it does not mean they are Caucasian. I myself am a testament of this fact, being one half Cuban and the other Guatemalan with white skin. People from both sides of my heritage would still call me “gringa,” as I was born and raised in the U.S. and speak English as my first language.
Reader, please know that in spite of this, I do believe that the Covenant community has grown leaps and bounds from the homogeneous pool of white it once was. The installation of the Multicultural Program is truly a blessing and a breakthrough. Thankfully, they are doing the best that they can with what they have.
While I applaud the students who step up as Multicultural leaders, I think that we should pursue greater numbers of ethnic minorities on the team. Missionary kids and third-culture kids can do a lot to help the student body relate to different cultures, but until the community sees a more diverse color in the blood running through our campus, we cannot be called a true representation of the church.
There is something about a family culture that unearths a unique desire in us. Cristina García, a Cuban-American author once said of her first novel, Dreaming in Cuban (1992), “I surprised myself by how Cuban the book turned out to be. I don't remember growing up with a longing for Cuba, so I didn't realize how Cuban I was, how deep a sense I had of exile and longing.”
It is just as García, who left Cuba at the age of two, says. Because heritage is so closely connected to our very identities, the very blood that runs through one’s body creates a longing for knowledge of our home. I have seen my grandparents and my mother long for Cuba, and I have seen my father long for Guatemala. I myself have felt this same longing; this desire for both countries which I already consider home, yet have never even seen. I feel that this kind of blood is missing from the heartbeat of Covenant, this love of different cultures. How can a Christian community thrive when diversity of blood is not prevalent? Need I say anything more pertaining to the Great Commission Jesus issues in Matthew?
I say these things, not to heap disdain on the community, but because I have so much hope for it! I see the greatest potential at Covenant for fostering a fervent and sincere desire to attract ethnic minorities to our campus, and I truly hope you see it too. I feel that Covenant could be the most appropriate place to attract minorities and to make them feel welcome. One thing I have learned since coming here is that orthodoxy is well-taught at this school, but where can we find the orthopraxy? Where is the practice of love and care toward the alien and the stranger which doctrine teaches? Genuine heart change is called for from the top down.
We have a lot of growing to do as a community, but we should never shy away from transformation. I would like to challenge you to look at your social circle, your network, and your friend group. What do you see? Do you find many people who look like you? Talk like you? Act like you? If so, ask yourself: are you the kind of person who reaches out to others from different cultures and backgrounds?