Liana Sims, an African-American alumna, has always had pride in her race. When she transferred from a public university to Biola, however, and found herself in the two percent of African-Americans, she was barraged with the idea that everyone was the same because of their unity in Christ.

Sims addressed this tension at chapel on Feb. 7, mentioning that the climate at public schools welcomed the idea that one should be proud of their race and engage in cultural activities to promote their ethnicity. Biola, she said in an interview, has a different feel — under the banner of being united as one in Christ, the demand to blend into dominant culture takes over.

Although programs such as B.E.A.T. — Biola’s Ethnic Advancement Team — and Multi-Ethnic Programs and Development are in place, some ethnic students feel as if their race is brushed aside.

Mixed reactions about diversity efforts

A study done at Biola in May 2008 measured the attitudes and beliefs about issues related to racial diversity on campus. 883 students from Asian/Asian-American, African-American/Black, Native-American, Hispanic/Latino, biracial/multiracial and a few other ethnically diverse backgrounds participated in the study.

The results were split. Of those students from various ethnic backgrounds, 22 percent of the participants reported that Biola’s effort to improve relations between people of different ethnicities was too little; 37 percent reported that efforts in this area were good; 20 percent reported that it was too much; and 21 percent reported that they did not know.

Zania Kennedy, a junior English major, grew up in a very diverse community in Ohio and was able to learn to use her African-American heritage as a way to relate to others and get to know their cultures. She attended Baldwin Wallace University, a private university in Ohio, before transferring to Biola. At BWU, Kennedy was involved with various multi-ethnic activities and was able to grow in a diverse community.

“I wasn’t prideful about my race, but I was comfortable with who I was,” Kennedy said.

After transferring to Biola, Kennedy said that she sometimes feels as though race is not talked about as frequently as she would like. The development of race relations is still at the root level, especially when it comes to other students, she said.

“I feel as though at times people don’t understand the significance of having different experiences,” Kennedy said.

Let's talk

Sims also expressed a difficulty in relating with Biola students about racial experiences. Not enough students at Biola are interested in initiating conversation about race with minority students, she said.

“It’s a level of humility that I feel like a lot of people don’t have,” said Sims.

Daniel Parham, a transfer biblical studies major believes that although these conversations are difficult, they are crucial to truly understanding the diversity of the body of Christ.

“All of us, minorities, majorities, need to be open to sitting down and talking with your brothers and sisters, not just being intentional based on fear but being intentional based off of love,” Parham said.

Parham grew up being defined by the “black label” and defending his race. He attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, which is a predominately and historically black all-male college, as well as Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa.

“There was this cultural influence, this affinity and this pride, in being African American,” said Parham of Morehouse, which is 94 percent African American.

At Morehouse College, Parham was able to engage in events that promoted unity within the black community, but as Parham pointed out, there was never any emphasis in terms of promoting race or talking about race, due to the college being historically black.

Parham transferred to Biola because he was initially drawn to Biola’s school of business. After experiencing the sense of Christian community that flowed from the students, he changed his major to Christian Ministries. Being at a more diverse school than Morehouse College, Parham was able to quickly see who he was as a black individual more than he did in the all-black context.

Exploring ethnicity leads to growth

Here at Biola, Parham is involved with the B.E.A.T., which seeks to reach out to ethnic communities, promote Christian education, as well as strategize and program events for the multi-ethnic community at Biola as well as off-campus.

“Coming here, I’ve realized that I do take more pride in my race, my God-given ethnicity, and I find ways to express that,” Parham said.

Kennedy became involved with the Multi-Ethnic Programs and Development department upon her arrival at Biola, and has had the opportunity to branch out and embrace her ethnicity through the department.

“It’s definitely allowed me to grow a lot more, it’s shaped my character a lot more, and it’s caused me literally to draw closer to the Lord,” Kennedy said.

Being at Biola has allowed Kennedy to see the importance of listening to others’ stories, including those of race, and not brushing aside a part of someone’s life.

“I think it’s good if we can all just listen to each other, no matter what race we are, especially in the body of Christ,” Kennedy said.

"I want to see a change"

Doretha O’Quinn, vice provost of Multi-Ethnic and Cross-Cultural Engagement, used to be a professor at a public university, and has seen a difference in the way race is seen there as opposed to Biola.

“The perspectives are probably more relational and more desirous of learning — not necessarily having a common faith background, but having an interest in seeing and learning about other people as educational,” O’Quinn said of the perspectives held at public schools.

O’Quinn described that being an administrator at Biola has allowed her to see effective ways to integrate racial diversity into everyday campus life. She believes that listening, prayer and not being afraid to build relationships are key to understanding different perspectives and ethnically diverse cultures.

“I learn from students the same way I want them to learn from me,” O’Quinn said.

Being able to learn about ethnic cultures and being open to hearing other people’s stories regardless of their race is something that O’Quinn feels is an extremely important change that needs to happen on Biola’s campus.

“I want to be able to really communicate my heart to students of all races because I want to see a change,” O’Quinn said.

The need for this change is felt by Sims. As Christians, she said, we sometimes don’t dig deep enough into the Bible to see how it affects other areas of our lives, including race. Many Christians just try to play it safe by not addressing the issue.

“We have the gospel, but we don’t fully use it, we don’t use it to its power,” said Sims.