Kimberly Griffin, a student affairs professor at the University of Maryland, gave a lecture titled "The 'Me' You See: Examining Multiple Identities & Intersectionality in Campus Engagement." Griffin discussed how people identify with various sociocultural factors in different ways and make assumptions about others' identities. Her research showed students place different importance on aspects like race, gender, and class. Providing diverse student organizations allows students to engage in communities where they feel welcome and better understand their identities.

1. By Nate Harold
For The Diamondback
Just a glance at a University of Maryland student wouldn't directly
showcase what that person's identity is.
People identify themselves in terms of various sociocultural factors, but all
in different ways, said Kimberly Griffin, a student affairs professor at this
university.
"For a very long time, I didn't think about my racial identity at all," said
Griffin, who is African-American. "You just never know by looking at
somebody about their different identities."
About 40 people gathered in the Shoemaker Building Wednesday to dive
into a discussion about what defines an individual's identity, and how that
identity contributes to the student's experience on the campus.
The lecture, titled "The 'Me' You See: Examining Multiple Identities &
Intersectionality in Campus Engagement," was a part of the Maryland
Dialogues on Diversity and Community series.
Griffin said people normally make three assumptions about identities of
others that can be false. These assumptions include thinking we know who
someone is and how they identify, which identities are most important to
that person and that people who have a similar identity think alike.
Griffin and her colleagues conducted several studies focusing on a diverse
group of students at this university. Her findings showed that people often
place different levels of importance on different aspects of their personal
identity, she said.

2. For instance, some people might feel their racial or ethnic identity is more
important than gender or class identity, and vice versa. But everyone is not
only defined by personal characteristics or identities.
"We also define our identity by our behaviors … and by which community
we engage in," Griffin said.
For this reason, it's important the university promotes different forms of
multicultural and multi-identity organizations for students to feel
comfortable on the campus.
Providing students at this university with a variety of organizations that
address different identities allows them to engage in a community, or
several communities, of their choice where they will feel welcome.
"[Griffin's speech] made me really think about my own identity … it made
me think about it in a different way," said Jorelle Casumbal, a junior
environmental science and technology major. "I saw myself identifying
more as the student who would go to an ethnic student organization and
feel like I didn't really fit in with that group."
Casumbal said she's had experiences when she felt she did not identify with
the ethnic organization she tried to get involved with on the campus, but
that those experiences have helped her to understand her identity more
clearly.
"We want to create an inclusive environment for our students, for our
faculty, for our staff," said Sharon Kirkland-Gordon, Counseling Center
director. "The Counseling Center has always been dedicated to making sure
that we move forward in that regard."

3. One important aspect in helping to achieve this optimal environment is the
continuation of dialogues about diversity on the campus, she said.
"The university should [continue to] have dialogues like this, so that
students can really talk about these experiences and how identity has
shaped their experiences at the university," Casumbal said. "Just to really
get that conversation going with students who don't really know how to
identify with a certain community."