Diversity is a controversial topic. Period. But take a moment to stop and think what diversity actually means to you. What makes you diverse? It certainly isn’t only the color of your skin or your sexual orientation. Nor is it limited to the language that you speak or the religion that you follow. Let me put it this way. If I stop you in the middle of the street and ask you what makes you diverse, chances are you’ll probably fumble for an answer because you’ll be too busy trying to pick out a definition that supports your answer. Now, instead, if I ask you what makes you different? Chances are that you will tell me the first thing that pops in your mind without any reservations.

It is time that we abandon the image of campus diversity portrayed only as a colorful student body. Diversity ultimately is the commonality that we are all different. Race, religion, sexual orientation, nationality, language and gender are some of the physical representations of the diversity on our campus. On the other hand, we all think and act differently. There are not two people on this campus who think the same no matter how similar they may appear in person, a phenomena known as “cognitive diversity.”

At this very moment we have 33,241 Cyclones who are spread out across the ISU campus. This figure comprises students who are ambitious and talented and have ideas that can change the world. This is a remarkable achievement for Iowa State, but the real challenge begins now. As director of student diversity for the Government of the Student Body, a question that I often ponder is how do we make our campus more aware of this diversity that surrounds us?

The first step to this process is awareness. In order to be aware, one must read. One must write so that one can read and learn about the stories, anecdotes, and experiences that make this world an interesting place to live in. This year, GSB has collaborated with the Daily to invite various student leaders to have “Conversations on Campus Diversity.”

Every Wednesday, we will feature a student leader on campus who will share their thoughts about the current climate at Iowa State in terms of diversity through their own experiences or the stories of other people. I believe that this column would act as a communication platform between students which would certainly help us embrace our individual differences and make this campus more welcoming and “diversity” friendly.