"Why do all the black students live in Ujamaa?"

"My roommate is a queer." … "Yeah, I know -- he's my boyfriend."

"The guy wanted $50 for this jacket, but I jewed him down."

"Freaking Asians, always wrecking the curve in my math class."

"Nobody knows this, but I have dyslexia." … "Retard!"

These one-liners opened the show "Tapestry of Possibilities," held 19 times throughout Cornell's Orientation Week, primarily in Robert Purcell Community Center. Performed by a student theater troupe, Ordinary People, the irreverent skits were intended to take first-year students "out of their comfort zones," says Susan Murphy, vice president for student and academic services.

"Introducing our students to our values of diversity and inclusion is important as we welcome these students from the wide variety of backgrounds they represent," she said. "We want them to know that we hope they will embrace and celebrate the diversity of our community, not simply acknowledge or tolerate it."

The troupe seeks to dramatize the dynamics that new students at Cornell may experience, such as those from privileged backgrounds mingling with those from disadvantaged backgrounds, students of color suddenly being thrust into a largely white environment, or students being forced to confront issues of sexual differences and race that can affect comfort levels. The skits were written by students in the troupe, based on their own experiences and observations.

In one skit, for example, the resident adviser reads from her clipboard that she will not tolerate any harassment on her corridor. Then, a young woman nervously tells her dorm mates that the rumor about her is true; she is gay. After the first squeal of surprise, her roommate admits that she, too, is gay. Then another and another admit the same, until one lone student is left, sitting quietly.

"You don't mean to tell us you're a hetero … a breeder?"

"I … I'm not gay."

"Hey, I know a hetero guy down the hall. Maybe you two could get together."

"Hey, Ronnie, I'm sure if you go to one of those frat places, you could find lots of other people like you," says another.

"And I'm sure a therapist would be willing to help you with this. They can work wonders for you people."

In another skit, an administrator is trying to pose a white student with a group of black students for a brochure photo. The white student is clearly uncomfortable. "Are you sure we need some kind of forced mosaic here for the photo? Will it matter that much?" wonders the administrator.

Then a multiracial group of students approaches. "Excuse me … I think we may be of assistance," says one young woman. "Need an African-American? Need a Latina? A Native American? Biracial person? Do you need some ethnicity for your brochures photos? We're here to help. We're from SOCPO … Students of Color Photo Opportunity, Incorporated! We'll be in your photo!"

Explains her friend: "You're facing the age-old problem of an administrator on a predominantly white campus. Students, parents and donors look very closely at your brochure, and you want it to appear as though there's diversity here. You know the game -- the more students of color you have in your publications, the more harmonious it appears here. The more students of color, the more popular you are with the newspapers and the community. After all, if the students see that all the people representing the school in these brochures are all white, they might raise a little skirmish, and you wouldn't want that."

After the skits, Murphy led a group discussion to get the student reactions -- which touched on praise for the performance to a request from a student of color to say "hi" in passing instead of looking down -- and to talk about promoting social justice and mutual respect for each other.

"Hopefully, the program got our new students thinking about these issues and understanding they are vital to this community. ... and hopefully it encouraged them to listen, engage, be encouraged to meet new people and begin to gather information as they engage in opportunities and challenging dialogues," said Murphy. "The program, as part of orientation, is simply an introduction to the wide range of experiences our students can engage throughout the year."

After the skits, Cornell President David Skorton, who was in the audience, told the group, "There is no right answer. … Now this is going to sound corny, so bear with me … I think the key thing is to be gentle with each others' feelings … and the other thing is to be very gentle with yourself. … Tell yourself, 'It's okay I'm confused about this.'"

"I think this was really good for incoming students," said Samuel Gordon '10, a biracial student of Indian and Jamaican descent from Palm Beach, Fla., after the session ended, noting that the performance was very thought provoking.

"Now it's up to the audience to apply it."