Judging from the Student Association's 19 international student clubs, cultural diversity is a substantial aspect of student life at UB.
Akosua Osei-Mensah, secretary of the African Student Association said her club hosts events to which students of all ethnicities are invited and encouraged to attend.
"We have events, hair shows and fashion shows. In the spring we have a Jambo pageant," she said. "This year the girl who won was African-American."
"Year before last the girl was Spanish," she added. "We invite everyone - you don't have to be African to join."
According to Michael Farrell, department chair of sociology, getting acquainted with other cultures is crucial to personal success.
"It's really essential if a person is going to operate in the social world, business world or any aspect of society," he said. "They need to be able to interact with other cultures."
Linda Huang, a sophomore business major, said she has taken advantage of the opportunity to meet students from around the globe.
"I have friends from like every country," said Huang. "More from the Asian ones, like Japan, Hong Kong, places like that."
Huang, who is from China, said she noticed many aspects of the United States that are different from her native country, such as religion and body language.
"Religion is really different; like here, with Christianity, people go to church every Sunday," she said. "I'm a Buddhist. We always practice our religion every minute in everything we do, in our hearts."
"Also, here, people make eye contact a lot," Huang said. "In China, it's a sign of disrespect to look someone in the eyes for long. I feel like teachers here might think I'm not paying attention because I avert my eyes."
According to Farrell, Americans are more inclined to be culturally separate, unlike other cultures that get acquainted with Western culture throughout their lives and learn English during their elementary education.
"Because we are one big country and isolated by oceans from other cultures, except Mexico and South America, we're not forced to learn other languages or forced to learn about other cultures," he said. "But the world is getting smaller. Even in academia there's important work going on all over the world."
Some domestic students said the mix of international students offers an opportunity to explore other cultures.
"I got a lot more into Indian food because of my roommate," said Sarah Marks, a sophomore theater major.
Despite the different countries of origin, Marks said her experience with an Indian roommate was among the best she has had.
"We were a lot alike, which was kind of funny," said Marks. "I'd had seven other roommates before (my Indian roommate). They were all from the U.S., but I got along with her the best."
While most international students at UB are fluent or well-acquainted with the English language, Farrell advises American students to learn other languages because "it is hard to communicate human emotions across language barriers."
Erica Jim, a junior business administration major, said communication among nationalities is more likely when students speak a common language.
"It isn't too difficult to interact with (foreign students) if they know how to speak English," said Jim. "And they are friendly. Most of them are pretty open to American people if they want to learn English and the culture here. They just want to express their views like anyone else, and to learn about how people act in the U.S."
According to Farrell, communication among students of different nationalities may not happen often enough when most people simply socialize with members in their own ethnicity.
"Within the university, you see people clustered together in homogenous groups," he said. "It would be good if they would cluster together in mixed groups."
Jim said that a student's penchant to prefer the company of members of their own culture is understandable.
"I think they are more inclined to stick to other international students or people of similar cultural backgrounds," said Jim. "It's just easier for them to do that. It's like a little bit of home."
According to Fahad Bilal, a sophomore business administration major, some students socialize with mostly people of similar backgrounds unintentionally.
"Generally speaking, it wasn't on purpose that I stuck to people of my own ethnicity," Bilal said. "I got a small circle of friends and it grew. It wasn't that I was trying to avoid Americans. My close circle of friends just happened to be of the same race."
Despite his close circle of friends, Bilal said he still recognizes the importance of learning about other cultures.
"The world is made up of different people, interacting with them helps you get a broader perspective. If you stick to only one type, you may only know one type," he said.
Osei-Mensah said her club, the African SA, endeavors to include all ethnicities in their events, hoping to share their culture with non-Africans as well.
"We want a lot of people to come to our events, we want Africans and people who aren't African - Africans already know about the culture so we want people who aren't African to come" she said. "We're having a "Pot Luck" dinner with the Haitian SA and the Indian SA this Saturday, since UB is so diverse we want to get people from all cultures involved."
Huang agreed that learning about other cultures is essential.
"Now I know a lot about American and Japanese cultures," said Huang. "Understanding the cultures will help you understand why people do what they do. It helps you understands them."
According to Farrell, not only does learning about other countries help someone understand that particular culture, but it also helps the individual learn about himself.
"I don't think you can understand American society until you've been to or looked at other societies," he said. "When you look at how different they can be, you begin to realize how American culture is unique. It is easier to understand yourself when you acquaint yourself with and understand other cultures."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
