Diversity Month, Formerly Diversity Day

So, April is apparently “diversity month” here at DePaul University (should I make the faint connection to The Office here?) I’m not entirely sure what that entails or what exactly they’re trying to demonstrate, but hey, if they’re ranked the most diverse school in the nation, then I guess we should celebrate it.

And what better way to celebrate being the most diverse university in the nation than with a cultural food fair?

We be celebrating diversity here yo.

I dunno. I’m not normally one to take the whole people of color thing too seriously, but you can’t help but wonder when looking at this flyer what the hell were they thinking? It’s cool and all if we were in high school, where the confines of your local demographics limits your perception of what a diverse crowd would look like. But this is a freakin university, we’re a little older and mature and worldly (I hope, at least) and to celebrate how diverse we are by the kinds of foods that are available seems very stuff white people like – ish.

But why not check it out. Without friends and a job, I had all the time in the world anyway. So I put on my Thursday best and proceeded to see how the largest Catholic university (25,000 enrolled, FYI) in the world would celebrate its diversity. What I came across was a room lined with science fair-esque poster boards representing over 15 countries of the world from Turkey to Indonesia to Nigeria. Using the magic of the paper cut out and google picture search, visitors could go around the room and learn about the country from which the food they are currently eating came from, in very easy to read paragraphs.



And to top it all off, each country was given a 30 second video slot on stage to showcase the beauty of their country (most people just used the promotional ‘vacation here at ____’ videos though), and were given another 30 seconds to talk about the type of foods and religions and other fun facts that can be found in their native country, all to the background of some ‘traditional’ music and in ‘traditional’ dress (I think I heard the word ‘traditional’ so much today, it’s lost all traditional meaning to me)



I wasn’t exactly sure what surprised me more, how ridiculous this all seemed or whether this was exactly what I expected to see. It was like something out of a bad elementary school presentation. I’d expect this if we were in maybe, 4th grade, but what I witnessed today was a grim reminder that though this may be the 3rd most populous metropolis in the world’s melting pot, I am still in the Midwest.

Just to clear things up.

Perhaps I simply have a different perception of what diversity and culture is, being from the hyper-diverse regions of the Bay Area and Los Angeles. But coming from a university where diversity is celebrated in 3-4 hour long culture shows and large influential student groups, this 2-bit science fair seems like a major step back for us minorities.

But I can’t complain. They gave me free food.

Moving on, my daily attempts to remind myself that I made the right decision to uproot myself completely have led to yet more seeing of sights. Still an outsider here, I of course flocked towards the first place any tourist would go to…the touristy spots.

Navy Pier was one of those spots. In pure tourist pier fashion (I’m looking at you, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Santa Monica Pier, and Pier 39!) there was the obligatory ferris wheel and carnival games.


Well, except for the fact that neither of those were in service, being that it was a brisk 29 degrees and snowing. Even the restaurants were closed and cut off.

Why, Beer Garden? Why did you have to be closed???

The top of the pier was mostly depressing as well. I suppose this time of year, there aren’t too many visitors, so I guess they didn’t have to cater to anyone, spring break visitors be damned. Bleh. Kinda reminds me of the time I visited Coney Island last March.

man. that was depressing.

It’s also a given that Chicago is definitely a sports town, host to a team from ever major U.S. sport (covering some of them twice). Given that fact, I did what you could call stadium hopping, and visited everywhere from The House That Jordan Built, the United Center:


U.S. Cellular Field, home of your 2005 world champion White Sox:


And historical Wrigley Field, which now, in addition to being the home of the Chicago Cubs, sells discount tires.


And what way to better end my day than by enjoying a nice meal at the fanciest McDonald’s I’ve ever been to.

I don’t usually eat McDonald’s, but I had to see if the food was any different cause of the fancy entrance. It wasn’t.

"I'd rather be a doctor than a vet cause I'd rather see a person die than a cute little animal die."
-KT