In fact, this year, it seems like some trends have been around the entire year. Specifically, the trend of telling your minority friends about all the awful things your relatives have said about people like them.

As a woman majoring in systems engineering and hoping to enter the medical profession, a lack of representation of minorities and women is something that has become normal to me.

How dare Professor Jonathan Katz minimize the very real experiences of my nonwhite or nonmale colleagues who have braved incredible obstacles and curmudgeonly old professors—Katz most certainly included—to come to and thrive at Washington University.

It goes without being said that I was not surprised when I received a text message featuring an image of two female Asian students sporting modern variations of Black face with the caption, “We’re in the zulu (sic) tribe.”

A black-and-white image of Brookings Hall projected behind them, five students—three carrying picket signs reading “Integrate,” “Separate ≠” and “Equality Now” and two singing, “Ain’t gonna let nobody turn me ’round”—demanded an end to pervasive marginalization of Washington University’s black community.

The Diversity Affairs Council (DAC) recognizes the events of Tuesday night because we are students and representatives of the Washington University in St. Louis community. Our purpose is to foster a more inclusive campus environment and provide a connection between the student body and administration.

Coming hot on the heels of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s comments on multiculturalism, another head of state has fired broadsides into Europe’s integration policy. Last Saturday, British Prime Minister David Cameron criticized Britain’s “state multiculturalism,” calling instead for “muscled liberalism.”

Washington University was awarded $12,000 after a St. Louis County jury found that the University did not pass over employee Judy Sawyer for a different position because of her age. The County Court made its ruling on Oct. 29.

Tomorrow’s blood drive, and the “I Donated” stickers that will proliferate on students’ T-shirts across campus, mark an honorable occasion. Blood banks are as vital as they are under-resourced, and the University is right to give blood drives its full-throated support. Moreover, the University’s contribution to the blood supply is exemplary.

Two months ago, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation rated Laclede Gas Company as the worst place of employment in the nation for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered workers, tied only with ExxonMobil. After a March 26 protest championed by Show Me No H8 and other local activist groups, Laclede has officially changed its company policy to include protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation.