Why does Turlington have two names?
Next time you walk through Turlington Plaza, or walk by The Set, look left, look right. This walkway is just one example of the social segregation of UF's students. I am bothered by this and the countless other times in class, parties and organizations where I've watched my peers sort themselves by color or race. In this behavior, we are hurting each other and we are hurting ourselves. Plenty of our students could not care less about racial differences, but our community as a whole is failing to overcome the racism of our past. I will not pretend to fully comprehend this problem, but I do know this - students, we're not learning from each other as much as we could. We're also missing out on potential friendships and valuable connections.
So let's bridge this gap. Try making friends with someone outside your normal group, or simply start a conversation with someone you normally wouldn't think to - you might learn something.
Hopefully, when our children go to UF, the racial divide won't be as clear as a walk through the plaza.
