Jack Katarincic -- "Walking Still:  Rompiendo Barriers y Building Puentes"

  I'm glad that you had a chance to see the "Uni2act" play at the start of
  the Academic Conference and it is great that you chose to write about it.  I was there
  too and the presentation was definitely thought-provoking and emotionally-charged.  I
  was very impressed and proud that students (a few of whom I knew from classes) 
  could put themselves "on the line" that way before so many other students 
  and faculty members.  

  The main place I disagree a bit with your essay is that I think there always
  will be some of these borders.  You say they shouldn't exist "just because
  of [people's] culture or where they come from."  But I don't know if that
  is desirable or even possible.  After all, the differences of
  where people come from and what culture they grow up in are big parts
  of who they are, and of what makes them unique as human beings.  Given that 
  there will always be differences in the backgrounds of people who come to 
  colleges, it seems to me that the question becomes, how can we keep those
  differences from creating tensions and disputes between us? How can we 
  transcend them to create a community that values all of its members? 
  To me that comes down to trying to cultivate an atmosphere on campus where 
  differences are valued and celebrated rather than used to create barriers 
  between different groups of students.  But as I think you realize now, that's 
  easier said than done, especially at a school that comes out of a deeply 
  conservative tradition that (mostly in the past) tried to produce or 
  enforce uniformity more than it celebrated difference.

  Content:  A

  Mechanics:  A