Jonathan Wijayaratne (21, Sri Lankan-French) is in their final year of the bachelor’s European Studies. They think that UM is overall a good place for people belonging to minorities as they do themselves; identifying as non-binary and being child to parents with a migration background.
Wijayaratne is especially fond of their faculty Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS): “It’s a safe space. Everyone in FASoS wears make-up and overdresses, no matter what gender, and the only comment you hear is ‘Oh my god, I love your makeup!’” The atmosphere at other faculties is however different, they feel: “Some of my female friends have heard people at Department of Advanced Computing Sciences and the School for Business and Economics being very misogynist. It’s so sad.”
The university can and should do more to ensure that “every student in every faculty” can learn about the topics of inclusivity and diversity, and thus get the “chance to be a better person”, they feel. But what exactly can be done? Being asked this question, Wijayaratne needs a moment to think, just to come up with a multitude of ideas. “Because UM-students are really, really smart and aware of issues, listen to podcasts, read a lot of stuff also outside of class, we need to give students a larger platform. Staff has to interact as often as possible with students”, they say, drawing on experiences with academic staff that wouldn’t leave any room for discussion.
Why then not establish a student organisation that offers extracurricular education about inclusivity and diversity? “I have to work three jobs to stay afloat, and many other children of migrants are in the same situation. We don’t have time to attend extra classes”, they say. “It should be part of the normal curriculum.”
Simon Wirtz