USD Magazine, Spring 2003

FOR CHANGE United Front's Decode of Cultural Consciousness by Cecilia Chan R oberr Neighbours grew up in a pre– dominantly white middle-class area of Riverside, Calif., but in his mind Neighbours says rhe most important group he joined was United Front, an successful effort to lobby for an academic major in ethnic studies, which was approved this spring and will launch in Fall 2003. The energy, optimism and activism

alliance of nine student groups chat represent a wide swath of cultures and ethnicities, and that work to fill in the knowledge gaps many college students have about cultural, racial and ethnic differences. In this organization, Neighbours truly found what he had been looking for. "I chink it's important ro not only be rolerant of other people, burro learn about and celebrate differences, particularly in response ro the racism, sexism and classism that are pervasive in our society," says Neighbours, a sociology major with a double minor in Spanish and ethnic studies. "I feel I can be more effective in solving problems in our society by not just using one, limited perspective, but by gaining multiple perspectives. " Since discovering United Front,

neighborhood demographics weren't much of an issue. In high school, his best friend was Persian-American, and he hung around with kids who were Latino, Korean and black. To him, color and ethnici ty were no big deal. When he came to USD, the 20-year-old junior at first had a rough time finding a similar network of different cultures, faces and viewpoints. He craved the kind of inter– action that in high school helped shape his political and social perspective, as well as his love of music, arr and movies. Although he's white, Neighbours joined the Asian Students Association and the Filipino Ugnayan Student Organization, simply to feed his desire for knowledge of cultures he knew little or nothing about. He didn't see anything mange about joining these groups, in fact he considered it a normal part of a well-rounded college experience. "Not only have I learned a lot about other people and their perspectives, (but joining these clubs) helped me create and learn about my own world view," Neighbours says. "I now have a fuller picture of where I stand in the world." Members of United Front gather in front of the United Front banner, a colorful mural that graces their office wall and represents the diverse cultures housed in the Multicultural Center.

Neighbours brought to USD is typical of students who belong to United Front. Since banding together in 1993, members have earnestly worked to build and strengthen relations within their diverse coalition, and berween member groups and the rest of the campus. Their efforts at times have been frustrating and painstaking, and they've faced setbacks, but United Front students say that no matter what the difficulties, their overarching purpose - to allow the different cultures at USD to thrive whi le helping others learn about them - is much roo . . important ro give up. "Our goal is to help fulfill the mission of the university," says Guadalupe Corona, director of the United Front office, "which

Neighbours has become a campus leader, helping his fellow students better under– stand each other and educat– ing the USD community about how cultural diversity enriches their education - and their lives. Last year, he was elected vice president of multicultural relations for Associated Students, the university's student govern- ment. And he's been solidly behind the student body's

problems in our society by not just using one, limited perspective, but by gaining multiple perspectives." Robert Neighbours Junior

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