Moses Warren tries to live Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream every day.
As president of the Latino Student Union and a member of the Asian American Student Association, the Black Student Association and Spectrum, Warren experiences diversity on a regular basis.
Warren, a fifth-year senior majoring in English studies, thinks nothing of his involvement.
"I was just sitting around and said, 'Ya know what, next semester I'm going to get more involved,'" Warren said. Warren proceeded to join the above organizations in the fall of 2000.
Sam Phomsavanh, president of AASA, met Moses through that organization.
"He loves learning about new people and accepts new cultures and things," Phomsavanh said.
Phomsavanh remembers Moses' behavior during an Asian American organizational conference.
"He was the only non-Asian in the group, but he wasn't afraid," she said. "And it didn't intimidate him. In some ways, he is fearless."
Warren said he believes his ease in diverse groups could be attributed to his background.
Warren grew up in "a place called Beverly Hills -- southside Chicago."
"Even though Chicago is known as a chocolate city, my block was a big multicultural group," Warren said. It wasn't 'us vs. them.' It was all of us together."
Another factor contributing to his views on diversity, Warren said, was his niece, who is half Mexican and half black.
"The only Hispanic or Latino culture I knew was Taco Bell," Warren said. "I would always spend time with her, and we had this bond. Now I see the other side (of cultural viewpoints)."
Warren said he hopes students will get a similar experience by going to Unity Week events.
"Now it's even more important what you do for (Martin Luther King Jr. Day), because now you can go and have no excuse to not go," Warren said. "And now that it's off, we can actually do something."
But, Warren said, Unity Week should not be the only time students get multicultural experience.
"You can go to these things every week. It doesn't have to be Unity Week once a year, you can do this every day," Warren said. "If you just want to go and check it out, or are just curious, you could go to AASA. If you want to go to Asia, they might be talking about different languages or different customs of an Asian country one week."
"And don't think, 'I'm from a small Indiana town and don't know too many African Americans.' Then go to BSA; they're always looking for more members. And if you're taking Spanish class, you should go to LSU because we probably also have people who are in Spanish class and can help you out."
Warren said that experiencing different cultures is a learning experience.
"It's different than just sitting in a classroom and paying money for 50 minutes for just two days a week," he said. "You may not learn anything. To really understand you just may have to go meet these people and see what they have to say."
Elizabeth Douglass, a sophomore business major, met Warren only three months ago.
"His personality is very outgoing, and he cares about people," she said.
The two met through AASA, and immediately hit it off, Douglass said.
"He is somebody that people look up to," she said. "He's always there to talk to. Sometimes when I'm going through hard times he'll listen to me. He's always there and listening to people."
Elizabeth Boucek, a sophomore advertising major, said she believes that in many ways, Warren is a strong person.
"He stands up for what he believes in," Boucek said. "He's not shy about letting people show his qualities and beliefs."
Boucek said the fact that Warren is a member of Spectrum illustrates this.
"Even though people might want to label him, he's not afraid of people judging him and supports all kinds of different people."
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
