Diverse In-Deed

It’s said that diversity recognizes that, though people have things in common with each other, they are also different many ways. Inclusion is where we see those differences as a benefit, and where we share  perspectives and differences, leading to better decisions. It stands to reason, then, that it isn’t enough merely to desire to value diversity. One must also value inclusion. The two go hand in hand.

That was on full display here in Cambridge today as the season for graduation or “admission” begins. What we call commencement in the US has a very different flavor here. Rather than the “end,” it is seen very much as what our term commencement is meant to convey – the beginning of a life in a discipline of study and work in a particular area of endeavor.

Yes, diversity was on full display. Scholars from various colleges claimed diverse national and ethnic heritage. Skin colors of every hue and tone and language families from the Far East, South Asia, North and South Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, Europe, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and North America – I could name even more – could all be identified on the walkways and streets. Proud parents, spouses, children in tow, siblings jostling – all very familiar – all common in every culture.

But then there was a marked symbol of inclusion – the formal attire of the Cambridge scholar – known as Sub-fusc. Sub-fusc (meaning dark and dusky color) refers to clothes worn with full academic dress involving a dark suit and white shirt, collar, bands and bow tie for men (who must also wear black socks), and a dark suit and white blouse for women. The rules for dress on graduation for women also specify that women's attire must have long sleeves. Although only male graduands are required to wear white ties and bands by regulation, nothing prevents female graduands doing so too if they wear a properly collared shirt. Over this, of course, is the gown and the hood, which signifies your “college” and degree (rank and area of study). Everyone wears the same, regardless of national, racial, or ethnic identity. The only distinction on this occasion is your achievement.

Perhaps it is too idealistic to think that we might strive for this in our society. That we might strive to put into practice the teaching of one our modern-day prophets who taught so earnestly, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." (Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)

Perhaps, we Americans, who claim to espouse a society based on liberty and equality, on diversity and inclusion could learn from our British “cousins,” where disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, sex and sexual orientation are 'protected characteristics' covered by discrimination law to give people protection against being treated unfairly. Perhaps it is time to put into practice what we, as Anglicans/Episcopalians affirm our in own Baptismal Covenant and answer affirmatively to the question: Will you strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being? with these words: I will, with God’s help. Perhaps with God’s help making our voices heard in the cause of diversity and inclusion in our society might bring the values of the kingdom of God just a bit closer to reality.