According to The Princeton Review,of the approximately 30,000 undergraduate students who attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 66 percent are Caucasian. With African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanics and American Indians as minorities on campus, the University provides resources for ethnicity education through the form of cultural houses.

While some believe that cultural houses fuel segregation between different cultures, many appreciate the resources they provide for students who want to experience the cultural, ethnic and racial diversity of the human race.

Lauren Johnson, junior in LAS, said all people are welcome at the cultural houses, no matter what ethnicity they are.

“(The cultural houses’) real agenda is to welcome and educate,” she said.

Every cultural house encourages students to learn more about cultures they know a little, a lot or nothing about. Houses provide detailed cultural information in the form of books, magazines, cultural study programs, cultural classes, videos, radio, photographs and even artwork.

Kimiko Gunji, director of Japan House since 1998, said people come there for a tranquil, quiet place.

The first Japanese student came to the University in 1900, but the current Japan House was built in 1998. Located at 2000 S. Lincoln Ave., the house features three tea rooms, two of which were constructed by the Urasenke School in Kyoto, Japan. The third tea room was a gift from the Japan Illini Club. A Japanese tea garden and a strolling garden were recently added. Japan House offers cultural classes, including The Way of Tea, Japanese Flower Arranging, Kimono Dressing and Dance, Calligraphy and Origami.

“Without having exposure to other cultures, people don’t really know what (other cultures) are all about,” Gunji said.

The newest cultural house on campus is the Native American House. Its opening in September 2003 launched the center for American Indian Studies and cultural programming for the campus and community.

Native American students represent the smallest percentage of all minority groups on campus. Since the house’s opening, fewer than 10 students have been active participants. But the house, located at 1206 West Nevada St., still serves its community.

Director Wanda Pillow said the house acts as both a home for American Indians individuals and a learning center for everyone to learn about issues relevant to American Indians.

“The house is here to provide support and I think that’s very important for minority students when you’re on a majority white campus,” Pillow said.

The Native American House also hosts an “Elders-in-Residence” program along with other visiting scholars. An open house is scheduled for the fall semester.

“There’s been a long history, in terms of students, really advocating for there to be a space and a place where students and people on campus could come together,” Pillow said.

La Casa Cultural Latina is another cultural house on campus. Despite a move from Chalmers Street to Nevada Street in 1995, the purpose of La Casa has remained the same.

When junior in LAS Patricia Santoyo first arrived on campus, she experienced culture shock.

Santoyo grew up on the South Side of Chicago and said she was used to seeing people just like her who use ‘Spanglish’ to communicate. After her first month at the University, she left for home.

“For a lot of us who are from the inner-city, this is the first reality check that we are minorities,” she said.

Two years later, Santoyo returned to campus with more confidence. She feels that differences other than her race – like customs, languages and certain celebrations – separated her from the general campus population. Upon her return to the University, Santoyo became a peer mentor at La Casa because she didn’t want other students to go through the things she did. She thinks of La Casa as her home away from home on campus and said it helps people be confident with being different while at the same time promoting diversity.

“You need to have a comfort zone before you can step out and be comfortable with being different,” Santoyo said.

La Casa offers a free newsletter called La Carta as well as free activities like Spanish-English bilingual conversation tables, dance workshops to learn salsa, merengue and other Latin dances, a cultural taste series and percussion workshops.

Another prominent resource for culture diversity is the Afro-American Cultural Program.

In the late 1960s, after a group of 150 students demanded that “institutional racism” come to an end, the program was established. AACP offers programs for students, faculty and the community to further understand and participate in the African-American experience.

The house, located at the intersection of Nevada and Matthews streets in Urbana, offers several cultural workshops and activities, including the Omnimov Dance Troupe, a bi-monthly newsletter called The Griot, the WBML Radio Station and the Black Chorus. WBML even offers hands-on training and experience in newscasting and public affairs.

Nathaniel C. Banks, director of the AACP, said cultural houses contribute to the feeling of diversity by focusing on specific attributes of each culture and spreading the notion of diversity and multiculturalism. He said it’s important to have a number of cultural houses on campus because they act as resources to the students.

“By attending programs in a safe environment, it will give students a sense of reaching out to different groups that may have a different perspective from themselves,” Banks said.

The AACP also features authentic photographs of some of the first blacks at the University, framed newspaper articles of past events involving the black community, display cases of artwork and a mural that has the words, “Black is …” and lists words such as beautiful, fresh collards and pride.

With so many resources available, cultural houses offer students from all walks of life the opportunity to expand their cultural experience.

“The door is open,” Johnson said. “Just come in.”