Real World's Parisa to speak about cultural diversity

Many castmates of MTV's "The Real World" have visited SRU, but few have come to the university with a positive message to help bring students together.On Jan. 31, Parisa Montazaran from "The Real World: Sydney," will be visiting campus to give a lecture about her experiences with cultural diversity. After the lecture, Parisa will also take part in a meet-and-greet where she will take photos and talk with students.

Parisa, a 21-year-old native of New York City, is a Muslim Iranian-American who graduated from New York University right before she left for "The Real World" filming.

During the season of "The Real World," there were several instances in which Parisa faced hardship due to her ethnicity and culture.

"I used to hostess. After 9/11, at work a lot of the waiters ganged up on me and were throwing dishes at me and screaming at me in front of customers," Parisa said in the season's first episode. "My background is definitely something that makes me different from the other roommates."

Also in the first episode of the season, Parisa's roommate, Trisha Cummings,19, made fun of a foreign employee who spoke poor English in a fast-food restaurant.

Parisa, whose parents have heavy accents, was deeply offended by her roommate's words and immediately stood up for the restaurant worker and her parents.

"All Muslims are really different. It's still alarming that people base American identity on whiteness," Parisa also said in the episode.

Krystina Herman, 20, a sophomore dual secondary education and special education major at SRU, agreed with Parisa.

"When that happened, I thought it was really ignorant of Trisha to say something like that," Herman said.

Herman also said she was glad that Parisa stood up for her fellow minorities.

"I'm glad she said something because it was offensive, especially since her parents have such heavy accents themselves. If I were her, I'd feel the same way," Herman said.

Additionally, Herman said she's glad Parisa is coming to SRU to speak about cultural diversity.

"She's someone a lot of people our age know and could relate to," Herman said. "And hearing things about minorities and diversity from her would get through to more students since they are interested in her because of The Real World."

She also believes that diversity is especially something students at SRU should try to learn more about since the campus is in a rural setting.

"Colleges in the city and other places have more diversity, and students are able to learn about that diversity through contact with new and different people," Herman said. "Here, I don't think we have as much diversity as we could and it's not as likely you'll meet people that are a lot more different than yourself."

Shawnta Reed, a 24-year-old criminology and criminal justice major, is the vice president of cultural diversity for the University Programs Board and had met Parisa while at the regional National Association of Campus Activities conference.

While at the conference in October, Reed spoke with Parisa and booked her to come to SRU for a lecture on cultural diversity.

"She will discuss her religion issues and will give an interactive forum with the students," Reed said.

This hasn't been the first time "The Real World" cast members have come to the campus to speak with students. But Parisa's message will be a little less lightweight than her comrades' talks have been.

"Rachael and Veronica came, and one of them talked about her semester overseas and the other talked about her time in college as well," Reed said.

Reed believes students should attend Parisa's lecture for a variety of reasons, mostly to enlighten and educate themselves.

"It's good to hear about a religion that is different than yours," Reed said. "You can't avoid (diversity), so it's always good to learn about different cultures and people who aren't like you."

Reed said she likes to organize events like this because it helps get messages out to students in a way that isn't too informational or boring.

"More students will be willing to come out to see her," Reed said. "Students at SRU tend to shy away from stuff that's too informational. They prefer things that are more fun, (and) that's why we try to combine the two.