When talking about her own experiences in the university, De Raeve recognizes that there is a great European diversity in the student population by saying “because of the amount of people there are from different places, I guess it is diverse. But, for example, a very small population is coloured.”
As one of the only people of colour in her year, De Raeve does notice inappropriate behavior when the topic of race is brought up, such as tutors holding eye-contact with the people of colour in the room. She further points out general miseducation people have about Africa as a continent, but also on other aspects of diversity. For example, she witnessed several situations in which the tutors or other students would refuse to use an individual’s preferred pronouns.
De Raeve believes that educational trainings on diversity should be put in place. “In classes, some teachers might have a bit of a backward way of thinking,” she states, “I think they should be trained to know how to work with a more diverse student population.”
Having a diverse environment entails bringing together a group of people with different cultures and different ways of learning and doing things. De Raeve believes that the only way in which this can be successful is by having an open mind. “Bringing over people who are diverse does not mean you are a good university with diversity”, she explains. Diversity is only the first step to inclusion, and without inclusion, diversity is futile.
Maria Zaccarian