In the past few years our students have witnessed many positive changes on our campus. We've witnessed the expansion of computers and the classroom trends that followed with the introduction of "smart" classrooms.
Most instructors agree that while their teaching methods have changed, so have the needs of our students.
Some instructors and staff have been heard using a phrase like, "The school has changed some of their methods to meet the diverse needs of the student population." Shouldn't we really be saying that we're changing methods to meet the needs of a diverse student population?
We've seen the formation of different groups and clubs like P.O.W.E.R. (People of the World End Racism) that were needed not to group ethnic minorities on campus together, but to enforce the acceptance of all people, especially to those outside of that minority. It also works as an educational tool to prepare students for a world outside of the Illinois Valley area. The world is full of many different people with very different backgrounds.
So why is there such a controversy spreading over the new student government approved group, The Gay/ Straight Alliance?
For those that don't realize that there is life outside of the IVCC area, there is quite a large growing gay population, not just in the United States, but all over the world.
Our gay, lesbian, and bisexual students are campaigning for acceptance, and are supported not only by the school and its higher officials, but also by student peers that carry a more worldly view to school with them every day.
As long as we're members of a planet made increasingly smaller by advanced technologies and communications, we can't exclude ourselves from the real world any longer. There now exists a diverse human population that depends on us to be universally accepting. Hopefully, this is the first step to make sure that discrimination will be buried along with those that try to keep it alive at IVCC.