From heritage weeks to awareness celebrations to forums, the school year has been filled with ways for students to better learn and talk about and experience aspects of different cultures.

Pam Peters, assistant dean for intercultural programs in the Office of Student Development, said the year went well in terms of the programs.

"I do think the programs are very effective," Peters said. "One of the primary goals this year is to get students engaged in dialogue and I believe that was accomplished."

Campus-wide gains in diversity are not going to happen in a matter of months, Peters said. The programs affect individuals, she said, making students think more about "their place in this world with respect to other people."

Change takes time, Peters said.

"Everything that we're doing, we're keeping in mind that nothing is going to happen overnight," she said. "The most important thing is trying to get people to open their minds up enough to want to learn about other people."

Salma Khaleq, an intercultural program assistant in OSD and senior in the College of Arts & Sciences, said Marquette has a ways to go in the area of diversity, "where minority students will not be intimidated but will be comfortable" on campus.

Associate Provost for Diversity Keenan Grenell was a positive addition to the university, said Khaleq, who was also the president of the Arab Student Association this school year. She said it was beneficial having someone out in the community to change Marquette's image to minority students.

Khaleq said the biggest problem with the events was the low student turnout at some, which she attributed to students assuming that programming was specific to one heritage or one group and not to every student.

The most successful events were the "Outspoken" discussions, which "go along with heritage celebrations to bring students together and discuss issues controversial to that specific culture," Khaleq said.

Marquette is off to a "really good start" and is "moving forward" in terms of diversity, according to Grenell.

In some ways past efforts have been decentralized and disjointed, he said. Now with the creation of Grenell's position, there is a more centralized approach.

The events and awareness weeks are integral to diversity efforts and a good first step, Grenell said, but diversity is more encompassing than cultural and heritage celebrations.

"It's a way of life," he said. "While culture and heritage celebrations can be a form of what I call a transformative process, especially in terms of trying to educate people and getting people to have more of a global perspective, you also have to some nuts and bolts, kinds of infrastructure in place in order to truly further diversity on a campus."

Marquette must build on the success this year and build on the "whole diversity awareness aura" that is taking place on campus from University President the Rev. Robert A. Wild all the way down the ladder, he said.