Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 8, 1995 TAG: 9511080096
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: FAIRFAX LENGTH: Medium
Two side-by-side campus eateries on the first floor of Student Union Building No.1 attract clientele as different as the fares they serve.
At the Rathskeller, which serves beer and pizza, the crowd is almost entirely white. Many of the regulars are ``Greeks'' - fraternity brothers and sorority sisters.
At the cafeteria, young Muslim women clad in their native dress share one table alongside groups of Latinos, blacks and others.
For some, the cafeteria and the ``Ratt'' are symbols of separateness, but they also are daily reminders of diversity at a school where nearly 5,000 of the 22,000 students are minority group members, including more than 800 nonresident immigrants from 101 countries.
``It's part of the dynamic of campus,'' said Dennis H. Webster, associate director of George Mason's counseling center and a leader of new efforts to encourage a campuswide conversation about diversity. ``We're taking exactly that example to allow people to look at themselves and one another.''
Some students say the separation isn't so much a division as it is a choice they make based on whom they are more comfortable with.
``The Ratt is for white Greeks,'' said Marcus Washington, 25, who is black. ``I do feel uncomfortable in there. I'm not Greek. It's nothing against them. I just don't sit down in there.''
Kathy Dawson, director of the office of international programs and services, said Washington's attitude is shared by many, and for good reasons.
``It's somewhat healthy, in many respects, to find peers who are experiencing many of the same things,'' she said.
``Sometimes it's a bit intimidating to see a group speaking their own language, clustered around a table and going at it in their own language. Sometimes American students feel they can't approach that group. Sometimes non-Americans feel the same way.''
Webster said George Mason has run seminars and other programs trying to create a climate in which cultural differences can be aired freely.
``Both black and white students will experience campus tension and campus racism,'' Webster said. ``The goal is dealing with the discomfort they feel when something has offended their cultural values or someone makes a sexist comment or a racist comment.''
Freshman Jen Grieshabar, 18, who grew up in St. Louis, has attended two seminars on diversity since she arrived on campus.
``I went to an all-girl Catholic school where there were two black girls out of 400,'' said Grieshabar, who is white. ``It was sort of a culture shock, even moving to Manassas, to see so many ethnic groups - so many colors, if you will - of people who live here.
``Being at Mason was definitely a culture shock. You can't walk 5 feet without hearing another language or seeing someone who's dressed in their own native clothing.''
by CNB