Sipping tea like a country squire isn\u2019t the first thing that springs to mind when you think about a place dedicated to cultural programs. Yet the Tea Club lures a cross section of students. Attendees have included Tino Henrik Bratbo (CAS\u201913), a white New Jerseyan by way of Denmark; African American Kimberly Morton (CAS\u201911); and Annie Rupani (CGS\u201909, CAS\u201911), an olive-skinned Texan of Pakistani ancestry. In the words of Thurman Center Assistant Director Raul Fernandez (COM\u201900), the year-old club draws a group that\u2019s \u201cdiverse without even trying.\u201d<\/p>\n This year marks the 25th anniversary of the center, founded to offer cultural programs that carry on the multicultural, barriers-busting philosophy of the late Marsh Chapel Dean Howard Thurman<\/a> (Hon.\u201967). Observing the milestone, the Thurman Center is evolving a new strategy to fulfill that mission. It is morphing beyond what Fernandez says was a place where only students of color came. \u201cFrom our perspective, we were always for the entire campus,\u201d he says. \u201cBut we weren\u2019t reaching the whole campus. We wanted to be something broader.\u201d<\/p>\n More events have meant more attendance, which increased from about 6,000 visits in 2007 to more than 21,000 last year.<\/p>\n Fernandez argues that the emphasis on cross-cultural activities keeps faith with the philosophy of the center\u2019s namesake. In 1944, Thurman cofounded the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples in San Francisco, America\u2019s first integrated, nondenominational congregation, drawn together by a common spirituality that knew no racial or creedal distinctions. \u201cHis intent was to connect people,\u201d says Fernandez. \u201cHe said there was something called common ground, and if people can find that, whatever it is\u2014some people find common ground around bad movies, or anime\u2014then they can understand one another better.\u201d<\/p>\n Thurman unwittingly forecast the attitudes of many 21st-century BU students, who either don\u2019t identify themselves primarily by race or ethnicity or else are more interested in comparing notes with peers of different backgrounds. \u201cI personally don\u2019t identify myself by my culture,\u201d says Jennifer Gilbert (CAS\u201913), who is Jewish. She attends synagogue, but does so to sing and to please her family rather than out of conviction. \u201cI identify myself more by my experiences. You don\u2019t choose your culture. Your experiences are something you shape about yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy identity\u2019s still a work in progress,\u201d says Bratbo. \u201cI don\u2019t really identify by my culture or demographics. If anything, I identify with the Howard Thurman Center,\u201d as a student ambassador, or volunteer.<\/p>\n \u201cI am black Baptist. That\u2019s not something I\u2019ve lost at the Thurman Center,\u201d says Morton. \u201cRaul\u2019s correct; this center used to be very visited by students of color, and it still is. You find that common ground\u2014which for all of us is tea\u2014and we might have a conversation and I\u2019ll say, \u2018Oh, Tino, you\u2019re from Denmark, that\u2019s interesting,\u2019 and talk about Danish culture. It\u2019s still a cultural center, but it\u2019s definitely more than that.\u201d<\/p>\n Ocasio-Cortez, also an ambassador, stresses her Hispanic identity and Puerto Rican family. But Thurman\u2019s writings urge readers \u201cto act in accordance with your passion,\u201d she says. \u201cSome people are passionate about their cultural heritage, but some are passionate about other things that happen to have a cultural breadth\u2014tea being one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the things that allows people to expand who they are is to identify with other people\u2019s passions. I identify with my cultural community, but I\u2019ve learned a lot from Tino\u2019s passion for literature.\u201d (Did we mention the Thurman Center has a Book Club?)<\/p>\n You\u2019ll still see racially or ethnically focused groups meeting at the center, from Alianza Latina<\/a> to the Russian American Cultural Club<\/a>. Cultural identity is especially important to students of color, says Kennedy\u2014hence the center\u2019s affiliated cultural groups. But \u201cwe work to make sure that is not all they focus on, by encouraging them to find that comfort zone\u201d through other center activities.<\/p>\n Besides, says Fernandez, there\u2019s only so much the Thurman Center can do to help cultural groups express themselves: \u201cI can\u2019t tell somebody what it means to be Russian.\u201d\u00a0 \u25a0<\/p>\n![\"Thurman](\"\/parentmagazine\/files\/2011\/08\/11-3412-THURMANTEA-003.jpg\" "\\"Thurman")
![\"Thurman](\"\/parentmagazine\/files\/2011\/09\/Thurman_quote1v2.jpg\" "\\"Thurman")
Director Katherine Kennedy agrees: \u201cOur programs have always been inclusive.\u201d The center fashioned new events to make itself a hub where students of all races and ethnicities engage in shared passions that aren\u2019t particular to any one group. That might be tea. Or it might be the center\u2019s Book Club<\/a> or its Culture Shock blog<\/a> for aspiring writers, both launched within the past few years. Walk in on these activities, Fernandez says, and you see \u201ca little bit of a Times Square. The most diverse events that we\u2019ve had here have been events that had nothing to do with what you look like. Book Club\u2014all you\u2019ve got to do is be able to read. Tea Club\u2014obviously, you like tea. If you don\u2019t like tea, you can still show up. I\u2019ll serve some coffee.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Blog](\"\/parentmagazine\/files\/2011\/08\/10-2176-BLOGPARTY-0411.jpg\" "\\"Blog")
![\"Thurman](\"\/parentmagazine\/files\/2011\/09\/Thurman_quote2b.jpg\" "\\"Thurman")
Both Bratbo and Gilbert are part of the nation\u2019s white racial majority, and race can be more crucial to minorities. But Morton and Alexandria \u201cSandy\u201d Ocasio-Cortez (CAS\u201911), for whom ancestry is a point of pride and essential to their sense of self, also value the chance to mingle with others from different backgrounds.<\/p>\n