100 Commitments ends this week. However, we shouldn’t stop learning about different cultures. As college students, we should embrace other ethnicities and appreciate their interest in our country.

In a world where your neighbor can be from the other side of the world, it is important that you learn about other cultures.

This week wraps up 100 Commitments, a yearlong diversity initiative to promote education of different backgrounds and lifestyles. It covered 10 different categories of diversity, each of which had two weeks devoted to the topic. Faculty, staff and students who were registered were to learn about the category in a variety of ways during those two weeks.

But just because this initiative is over for the year does not mean we should stop learning. Acceptance stems from understanding, both of which will foster a better, more tolerant world.

We are in college. There is no excuse for being culturally ignorant. The job market is becoming increasingly globalized and therefore increasingly diverse.

According to the Business Journal, “If the world’s population totaled 1,000 people, the distribution would be as follows: 564 Asian, 210 European, 86 African, 80 South American, 60 North American — meaning the United States, Canada and Mexico.”

We are a country of immigrants and should be more welcoming to people entering the United States.

We pride ourselves on being the land of the free. The US should be a safe haven for those in need. Too often people are critical of others for not knowing English. Do you have the guts to move to another nation without knowing the language? Probably not. Nor do most have a need to leave the United States to improve their future.

But that is what many move here for. They want to make a life here away from the struggles of their home. Instead of criticizing them for not learning English overnight, applaud them for having the courage to be here and be proud that you live somewhere that can be a safe place for others. And while you’re at it, learn a little bit about them, where they come from and what brought them here.