During the first two weeks of school, the word on every freshman’s mind was cosmopolitan. Our first-ever GPS reading focused on this word and what it meant in the context of society, as well as at NYU Shanghai. In a small school in which practically everyone you meet speaks a different language and comes from a different country, you have to learn how to become cosmopolitan pretty quickly. But it is not always easy to adapt to the differences of others—from simple language barriers to more deep-seated ideological differences, assimilating with people from other backgrounds can be hard. So how do the NYU campuses cope with integrating all our diversity into one unified family? Here in Shanghai, the Breaking Barriers Initiative (BBI) has stepped up to help break down the divides between students of different countries and years. “BBI’s mission is to connect students across any and all barriers that students can face,” said President Ashley Tennant. Through programs like Brothers & Sisters and La Familia, BBI aims to connect students from different years as well as different languages. Although it is a relatively young organization, BBI has already had a big impact on NYU Shanghai through various projects. Last year they opened the BBI World Library on the second floor of the academic building. This is an ongoing BBI project seeking to expose students to literature and languages from around the world. “We hope to expand this program to more than the World Library,” said Tennant. “Our goal to spread BBI to all global network sites.” As BBI continues to make strides in connecting students in Shanghai and throughout the global network, New York and Abu Dhabi have also instituted similar programs. Hediya Sizar in New York works to create cooperation between those of different faiths through the club called World Faith and Bridges. “World Faith at NYU is an interfaith service club that seeks to bring religiously diverse students together to do service,” explains Sizar. Like Shanghai’s BBI, World Faith seeks to break down “us” and “them” barriers. “The concept of World Faith is similar to Bridges and BBI in that it seeks to break down barriers and bring diverse individuals together,” says Sizar. As similar clubs develop in New York and Shanghai, the ultimate goal is to bring the two campuses together to focus on integrating students.Like Shanghai, Abu Dhabi is a relatively new portal campus with a diverse student body. Together, our two campuses share the Brothers & Sisters program to connect students from different classes. “Because our freshmen classes are getting larger, some upperclassmen had two or even three younger siblings,” said Abu Dhabi student Olivia Bergen. “My little sisters and I had meals, went to art exhibitions, and got ice cream together.”Abu Dhabi’s Brothers & Sisters program was developed before Shanghai’s, and the two campuses actually worked closely together to get BBI started in Shanghai. “This year I gave the BBI team some advice on setting up their program based on the success of Brothers & Sisters in Abu Dhabi,” said Bergen. “Maybe it could help connect the campuses, but I think what will really connect them is when more Shanghai students come to study in Abu Dhabi and vice-versa.” As Shanghai’s first junior class studies abroad this year, relations between both campuses can only improve. Likewise, as the Shanghai campus grows in size, more and more students will find BBI’s resources valuable as they pursue connections with other students, embracing similarities and differences alike. BBI has yet to hold an event this year at the Shanghai campus, but freshmen, sophomores and juniors alike are waiting to see how they continue to improve the program from last year. This article was written by Savannah Billman. Send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: BBI