When it comes to talking about diversity on high school campuses, understanding the difference between race and ethnicity can help students navigate choppy waters, said a diversity workshop leader.

"Increase the Peace," a diversity conference organized by students at Marymount High School in Westwood Jan. 26, brought together 150 students from 17 Catholic high schools and several public schools.

During her workshop on ethnicity, Jessica Chan listed broad racial categories --- White, Black, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, Asian --- and then had students name different ethnicities under each racial category (for example, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, etc. for Asians). They came up with very long lists.

"There's so much variation within each of the racial categories," Chan told The Tidings. "Using race as some kind of indicator of what a person's values are or how they make decisions, isn't accurate and doesn't really work very well."

Ethnicity includes many cultural traditions like food, music, art, religion, language and national history. "Our cultural background may inform some of our actions and decisions," said Chan, who also teaches biology and chemistry at Marymount.

However, while knowing about a person's ethnicity can be useful, Chan ultimately advocates against making any assumptions. The best route to harmonious relationships, she asserted, is to get to know someone for who they are.

"To have meaningful exchanges with other people, you need to know them as individuals," she said.

Chan, who assists with Marymount's diversity club, advises students that the first question in getting to know someone shouldn't be "Oh, what are you?" Instead, "questions like, 'Do you like pizza? What sports do you play? Do you have brothers and sisters?' might lend themselves better to get to know someone rather than ethnicity."

At the same time, she is pleased to see that lots of students want to learn about other ethnicities and explore their own further.

Diana Lebenzon, a junior at Marymount, participates in the diversity club. People tend to be afraid of people who are different, observed Lebenzon. "We're trying to become more diverse and immerse ourselves in different cultures," she said.

The diversity conference showed a contemporary approach by enlarging its scope beyond race and ethnicity. Workshops also explored diversity in religion, ability/disability, gender, sexual orientation and socio-economics.

Malcolm Wallace, a student at Loyola High School, heads the peace and justice coalition. Wallace has a wide interest in socio-economic diversity --- from finding apparel companies that don't use sweatshop labor to caring that the school's computer lab ensures that low-income students can compete academically with students who have home computers.

A big aim of the conference was to raise awareness.

"I see a lot of young teens use derogatory language or stereotyping people a lot. They don't understand the weight of their words," said Semone Kessler, diversity conference chair and a senior at Marymount. "People are just afraid to talk about the issues because they are so controversial. But the truth is ignoring the issues is just enhancing the tension. We can work towards peace."

That's where a structured diversity conference can have a positive impact.

"It's nice when an institution of education can provide a safe, open place to initiate those conversations," said Chan. When students share personal stories they give voice to their common experiences and frustrations. "They are not alone in dealing with these issues," she said.

Kessler hopes that through dialogue students can learn to see, understand and embrace difference.

"At the end of the day I had 15 new friends from all over Los Angeles," said Kessler. "We can bond over something as great as diversity."