UTM students need to stop segregating themselves. I was having a discussion with someone recently and somehow UTM being racist came up.

Well, after being here a number of years, I have come to the conclusion that the campus may not completely be racist but it is definitely segregated by the student body.

Every other week it seems that students voice their opinions in The Pacer about some type of discrimination and then someone else writes in the next week refuting the article or agreeing with the article.

Well, guess what, if you feel that you are being discriminated against, then just don't stop at writing how you feel in The Pacer, go to a SGA meeting (meetings are every other Thursday in UC legislative chambers at 9 p.m.), complain to Student Affairs, call Chancellor Nick Dun-agan, go to a Black Student Association meeting (signs are posted around campus when general meetings will be held), or complain to any other campus organization that meets your needs.

The point is that maybe it is possible that UTM appears to be racist because students segregate themselves.

Caucasians separate themselves from African-Amer-icans, African-Americans separate themselves from Caucasians, international students separate themselves from Caucasians and African-Americans, and vice versa.

Let’s not stop at ethnic groups! Greeks separate themselves from non-greeks (by the way, if you plan on refuting this article next week, you can’t say I’m biased with this statement because I am a member of a sorority).

For example, if you have classes in Gooch Hall then you know that most of the time international students are with one another.

Every now and then, you might see them mixing with someone of another ethnic group.

If you walk through the UC during lunch hours, then you might see African-American students conversing with one another in the Food Court or in the hallway, while Caucasians are conversing with one another in the cafeteria.

Another example is that, most of the time, if you see students who are greek, then many times you will find them interacting with other greeks (not that all greeks separate themeselve from non-greeks).

Even as greeks we are segregated. For instance, Panhellenic Council (historically Caucasian sororities) and Interfraternity Council (IFC - historically Caucasian fraternities) greeks seem to associate themselves with one another. Also, National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC – historically African-American fraternities and sororities) greeks seem to associate themselves with each other.

However, it is true that Panhellenic Council, IFC and NPHC sponsor events that involve greek participation and are open to all fraternities and sororities.

Personally, I find this to be ludicrous. We are in college to become educated and multiculturally diverse adults. But we will not become multiculturally diverse if we don't educate ourselves about other cultures.

I propose the following to UTM students in solving the segregation problem on this campus.

1.) You should take the time to interact with someone outside your own ethnic group. You might find that one of your best friends won't be your same skin color.

2.) For students who are greek, if the three councils converse with each other, it may be possible to bring activities onto campus that will be diverse.

3.) Stop complaining that you are being discriminated against; unless you try to change the discrimination then the complaining isn't actually changing anything.

Others may argue that the campus isn’t segregated. Others may say that they do interact with other ethnic groups, but ask yourself, how many friends do you have that are not in your ethnic group that you talk to every day?

Other greeks may argue that they do interact with one another, but how many campus activities have been sponsored by the Tri-Council, which would re-quire the three councils to work together?

But to end this column, maybe it is possible that this campus has always been this way. Maybe it is possible that UTM has not moved out of the state before the civil rights movement. Or maybe it is possible that it is up to the student body to change the segregation on campus.

This column is definitely not intended to offend any one group, but I hope that it makes students think and look around at the segregation on our campus.