At Nazareth a frequent question is popping up: What is the difference between Diversity and Culture Club? Is there even any difference? The truth of the matter is that they are quite different.

For starters, the goals and basis for these clubs are quite different. Diversity Club is aimed at bringing diversity and acceptance of diversity to the Nazareth community, whereas Culture Club was created to help Nazareth’s foreign exchange students feel more welcomed, more engaged, and to orient them into a Nazareth lifestyle.

These clubs originated from ideas and issues that students had. Diversity Club started last year due to feedback from focus groups where students admitted that there was discriminatory joking and conversations at Nazareth, a problem that the club has worked on combatting. Culture Club, which officially started four years ago, was brought to the attention of the faculty by the first foreign exchange students to attend Nazareth, Josiane Umuhoza ’12 and Julienne Uwingabire ’12 from Rwanda.

One similarity that these two clubs have is that they offer a great deal to the Nazareth community. Mrs. Cathy Kokontis, moderator of the Diversity Club, said “Diversity Club has many people talking about the issues it brings up. It has created a higher level of sensitivity, but it is certainly not where we want it to be quite yet.” Culture Club, on the other hand, has helped foreign exchange students to adapt better and make sure everyone at Nazareth feels like they are part of something, part of a family.

While both of these clubs are very different, they share the same goal: making Nazareth a better place. Both of these clubs have many fun events throughout the year, both on and off campus. These are clubs that tie Nazareth together as a family, clubs that are worth looking into, and clubs that help make Nazareth a home for students of all kinds of diverse backgrounds.