Page 37 - Southern Magazine-Winter/Spring 2013

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matriculating at BSC, in a Human Perspectives course, we
engaged in a conversation about the changes in America
in the ‘60s. My position, then and now, was that laws
changed, but America didn’t. My instructor reminded me
that my sitting in a seat at BSC was proof that America had
changed. My response was that the mere fact that he felt
the need to say that meant that the change was superficial.
Laws don’t change people’s hearts. If so, there would have
been no need for the 1963 civil rights movement because
America declared at conception that “all men” were created
equal.
I am grateful for being alive during this period of history,
knowing that my grandchildren will live in an America that
is so vastly different than the one I know. Diversity: it’s
just another label that means identify the difference. The
question is: different from what? As time moves, so does
the norm. Eventually, there will be no norm and hence, no
diversity. We will just be.
*Williams is senior vice president of leadership
development at the Greater Birmingham YMCA. She
received her undergraduate degree from Arkansas State
University in Jonesboro.
Williams
• The Bunting Center for Engaged Learning and Community Action’s
service-learning partnerships include:
• Blueprints, a college access partnership between Alabama Possible,
Jackson-Olin High School, and Birmingham-Southern, in which
BSC students mentor high school students through classroom
workshops and field trips to several area colleges. Session topics
include financial aid, career assessments, and resume building.
• Bush Hills Academy (formerly Woodrow Wilson Elementary
School), a K-8 school with whom the college has partnered for
many years. Currently, BSC students participate in tutoring and
mentoring as well as organizing Student of the Month parties to
honor those who excel in character trains like honesty and caring.
• Urban Kids, an after-school program for children ages 8-13. BSC
student volunteers assist with homework, reading, art activities,
and special projects such as field trips to BSC athletic events or art
shows, or workshops on nutrition, self-esteem, or bullying.
BSC students work on an EcoScape in the Riley-Travellick neighborhood.