For Andee Coco, diversity is an “action” word, not just a “being” word. It is something that constantly has to be worked on and striven for.
Staying true to her definition, the senior sociology major puts her whole self into her work with underrepresented communities at CU.
She leads, participates in, organizes and collaborates with an alphabet soup of diversity-oriented groups – the Woman’s Resource Center, Queer Women in Community, Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Association and UCSU – without expressing a hint of passivity. She isn’t satisfied with the level of diversity on campus and is in a constant state of motion to spread the knowledge and initiate the action surrounding diversity that she believes is necessary at the university.
Coco is the media relations coordinator with the Women’s Resource Center and serves on the UCSU Diversity Commission. She is the co-founder and co-facilitator of Queer Women in Community, a part social and part activist gathering space specifically for queer women, and is a facilitator for the White on White: Acting to Dismantle Racism workshop.
Her motivation stems from her past, as well as her present passions.
“(These groups) give me a purpose on this campus and they give me a feeling that I can enact change myself and can also foster environments where other students can enact change,” Coco said. “It’s kind of an identity thing as well, about seeking community and one’s own identity and creating spaces for other people to do the same thing.”
Coco said a childhood of complacency has also driven her activism.
“It’s not a guilt thing,” she said, “It’s just a paying back for all the privileges that I have received.”
Coco said her work with diverse communities at CU has made her think about the opportunities and privileges that she took for granted growing up.
Now, drawing from her depth of experiences at CU, Coco has formed a rock solid opinion about diversity, one that recognizes the blooms of success, the cracks of failure and the opportunity for improvement in the representation of every race, age, gender, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, class and ability on campus.
In the midst of what she sees as a population and reputation that is male, white, middle class and heterosexual in nature Coco focused on elements at CU that do serve to enhance diversity.
“I think that there are pockets of places like the ethnic studies department, women and gender studies and sociology where diversity issues are always on the table and I’m so appreciative of that,” Coco said. “The WRC and SORCE, as well as the GLBT Resource Center intentionally represent diverse communities and cater to them as well. And that is where many people from communities of difference are able to find understanding and cultural sensitivity and community in general.”
The campus population in general still has improvement to make, she said, because many times people of dominant communities do a lot of lip service to diversity that doesn’t result in action.
“I think that it’s often left as a charge to the diverse communities themselves to do their own work which is not fair,” Coco said.
The issue of diversity, she said, should constantly be on the table for discussion and learning.
“People don’t want to think about diversity and they don’t want to think about ally-ship because it’s hard. It’s hard to be mindful all the time when you grow up being taught that it’s okay to be complacent,” she said. “Every day of our lives should be diversity training.”
Coco also spoke about the delicacy of situations when people of a dominant community enter groups of people who are underrepresented. It is a time, she said, when privilege is very much an issue.
“There’s a level of sensitivity that has to be coming from the dominant community or dominant person and sometimes you have to ask permission,” she said. “You have to check (your privilege) at the door and you have to be humble.”
“I think that people from dominant cultures need to pay attention to the messages that they are receiving,” Coco said.
In the midst of so many misconceptions about the diverse groups on campus, Coco said that top-down and bottom-up education, workshops, writing exercises and discussions are all ways to spread diversity awareness on campus.
She also stressed the importance of personal stories in the face of generalized knowledge.
“All knowledge is socially constructed so we have to seek truth in other people’s stories.” Coco said. “I think that other peoples’ stories are really invaluable to sharing a deeper understanding of society and of what’s really going on . truth I guess.”
Coco isn’t sure where she will go after college, although she is certain that her path will be activist oriented. She said she wouldn’t trade her time at CU for anything but will appreciate having more time to herself.
“I’m really looking forward to graduating so I can have time to work out and play guitar and maybe become part of Vox Feminista or whatever,” Coco said. “Just do stuff that fills up my heart instead of things that are a constant struggle.”
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Emery Cowan at emerycowan@thecampuspress.com.
