Over there are the jocks. Behind her are the preps. The sci-fi geeks sit on the end and the potheads in the far corner. The African-Americans sit in one place, the Caucasians in another. The kids arguing about the best brass instrument? Must be the band nerds.

If that kind of talk only reminds you of high school, then being aware of your surroundings must not be your strength. Go to the Friley Hall dining centers or pay a visit to Maple-Willow-Larch for supper and see if things have changed. Tour apartment buildings and see who lives together.

Almost 50 years after the Supreme Court made segregation illegal, it’s now self-inflicted in our community. Birds of a feather flock together, right? Perhaps, but it’s no excuse to allow social boundaries to go unchallenged.

My hometown of Alleman, Iowa, is certainly a place where people stick to themselves. The ancestral heritage lies for the most part in northern Europe: Norway, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, Holland. Not much for ethnic diversity.

Does it matter who sits together in the dining centers or if most of the international students live off-campus in their own communities?

Of course. As the few and fortunate who are able to attend universities from our respective communities, we return as examples.

We’ve all heard it before: “diversity is strength.” Many studies have shown that groups mixed between women, men, people of color, disability status and sexual preference among others do very well. Business knows that the more perspectives you bring to a problem the better chance you have of solving it. Universities like our own certainly know that our graduates leave our overwhelmingly white campus and into a country that is 29 percent nonwhite and a world that is 70 percent nonwhite. It’s time we teach ourselves to coexist and in a diverse world, not to segregate ourselves.

The administration of the university is in charge of building more diverse classes. And indeed, this year Iowa State has placed an emphasis on diversity. These efforts are commendable as initial steps.

ISU President Gregory Geoffroy has made it clear that recruiting and retaining a diverse community is a priority and has stirred some discussion. The Advisory Committee on Diversity Matters is to devise a plan for campus diversity, but we haven’t heard from them yet. While the forum on diversity April 9 was a good step, little more than a couple of news articles have surfaced since.

Let’s be clear: These efforts are appreciated and respected. However, it seems that the development of a concrete course of action as well as more information from the advisory committee is needed to keep the community in touch with this work.

We must also recognize our own responsibility in our daily interactions. How many international students do you know? People of color? White people? How many people who grew up in a large city or farm do you know? How do you choose group members in classes?

Aside from random residence hall assignments, we do have some formal opportunity for intercultural communication. The Cross-Cultural Learning Community placed 10 American and 10 international students together to take classes together and live together. This community ended this year, however. The Multicultural Learning Community and Fisher-Nickell Hall also provide other opportunities. Friday Caf‚, an initiative of International Education Services also offers a chance every Friday afternoon in the M-Shop.

Off campus, an interesting program is being started in schools nationwide. It’s called “Mix it Up” and challenges school students to “Mix it up at lunch” and “Talk for a change.” The program is an endeavor of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Web site, www.Tolerance.org in Montgomery, Ala.

Mix it Up offers help for students to start dialogue groups in their schools and offer instructions on how to facilitate conversations to get the “preps” to talk to the “nerds,” and of course across ethnic and religious lines. Last year more than 200,000 students participated and the numbers are expected to grow quickly in coming years.

These and other efforts are crucial as our segregated communities must learn to live together.

White. Black. Brown. Asian. American Indian. Woman. Man. Nerd. Jock. What’s the common denominator? They are all people —human beings. They share similarities with you but also possess their own characteristics.

Do something radical. Express your desire for a more diverse faculty, staff and student body to your departments and administrators. Start a dialogue informally — every day. On the bus, in class, during intramural games, clubs, parties, international nights, women’s week, pride week. Get to know someone as a person.

Will it always be easy? Probably not. Will it be fulfilling? Most likely. Is it our immediate responsibility to move beyond stereotypes to this place of mutual respect and dialogue? Darn right it is.