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Chapel today began with a short preview of “Prom Night in Mississippi,” a documentary featuring Morgan Freeman aims to address prom segregation as well as race relations at some southern schools. Several voices moaned disappointingly as it turned out to be only a promo for a movie night event held by Kappa Delta Chi.

Of course, there’s no Morgan Freeman nor anything related to the topic depicted by the documentary. Chapel, once again, was another set of worship songs and a sermon.

It is Diversity Week at Baylor. Although little has been heard about Diversity Week, it has only been made possible this year by the hard work of some individuals in hope to bring together and celebrate the many cultural and ethnic diversity at Baylor University.

Racial prejudice and cultural differences are not new topics, but they are certainly essential issues that continue to shape society. Yet, these issues are rarely touched upon or given enough ground for discussions at Baylor.

A movie event and a presentation of “different colored flags” are only the baby steps and do not necessarily satisfy the meaningful purpose behind Diversity Week. There should be more direct and interactive presentations or open dialogues that allow people to share ideas, stories and experiences in order to learn and understand more of each other.

Chapel at Baylor University is “a time for the entire Baylor community to come together in worship, prayer, rest and learning.” Many students are required to take two semesters of Chapel. Thus, it has the potential to deliver to a relatively large audience. The attempt to bring diversity in Christian worship and service to Chapel cannot be ignored. However, Chapel failed to offer Diversity Week or issues of similar nature the promotion and endorsement it has generously offered other events such as Poverty Summit or Steppin’ Out.

May lessons and motivational messages have been delivered in Chapel. A sermon or speech discussing diversity and issues such as racial or ethnical prejudice through the Christian perspective would have been appropriate and helpful. Yet, Chapel worships continue to be too safe and refrain from reaching to address such important and pressing issues.

Diversity Week is still new and undeveloped. However, it represents the initial effort that is worth encouraging and looking forward to in coming semesters. Diversity Week, through Chapel and the work of student organizations, can continue to grow and become another great tradition to promote awareness and understanding and bring together the Baylor family. Meanwhile, starting with Diversity Week, Chapel should certainly aim to be more informative about issues that are relevant to everyday life of students so it is not just a wasteful two-hour every week. 

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*The views expressed in the above may or may not be the opinions of The Brail.  This piece was submitted by a student and posted here unedited in its entirety.

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