Congratulations and appreciation are due to Doug Kesseli for the thoughtful coverage of the University of Maine “Culturefest” event in the article, “UMaine Culturefest celebrates diversity” (BDN, Nov. 10).
Thanks also to the international students and their collaborators on campus for this gift to the community. What better goal for a post-Sept. 11 university than to encourage us all to overcome a fear of the “other” by increasing our understanding of other cultures, religions, races, orientations and traditions? Understanding can lead to respect, appreciation and celebration of the rich diversity of the world’s cultures, and a comfort level with differences.
Maine’s past is more culturally diverse than many folks realize; French, American Indian, Portuguese, Italian and Irish, to name only a few. Our ship captains and crew plied the world’s seas. Our present population includes Cambodians, Thais, Somalis, Vietnamese, Afghans, Indians, Arabs, Hispanics and African Americans. Our future is multicultural and multinational as we expand our participation in the global economy and benefit from international culture and education.
In recognition of this the Hudson Museum and the Maine Center for the Arts are collaborating with many parts of the campus and the community to better employ their uniquely combined resources in celebration of the fascinating variety in our global family. We invite everyone to join us as these programs and improvements in our facilities evolve. As your article said in closing: “It is a big world out there, so you can make friends if you just try a little bit.”
Ron Stegall
President of the
Advisory Board of the Hudson Museum
Deer Isle
Comments
comments for this post are closed