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Ohio Cultural Alliance group calls it quits: 30 years of understanding, appreciating other cultures
By Sean Barron
YOUNGSTOWN
Most people feel sadness, followed by a rush of nostalgia, when a longtime club or organization disbands, and George D. Beelen is no exception.
Nevertheless, he prefers to spend more time and effort taking pride in the Ohio Cultural Alliance and looking back on its 30 years of achievements.
“We began in 1987 after I had taken a sabbatical to Mexico,” said Beelen.
“I came back and decided to start this. I was pushed in this direction by the people I met in Mexico. We had a good 30-year run,” said the retired Youngstown State University history professor and former chairman of the university’s history department.
Beelen, the OCA’s president, reflected on the Youngstown organization’s accomplishments and highlights during its final meeting recently in the Basilica of Our Lady of Mount Carmel church’s social hall, near downtown.
The dinner meeting also was in collaboration with the Mahoning Valley Association of Churches, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.
An estimated 300 people attended the program, the keynote speaker for which was the Rev. Joseph T. Hilinski, an ecumenical officer with the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland.
The OCA was a social and cultural group whose main objectives included working toward promoting world peace by increasing understanding of and interacting with people of many cultures. To that end, the alliance developed a theme each year that centers on examining people of diverse cultures, traditions and parts of the world.
This year’s theme was “Faith in the Mahoning Valley,” for which speakers were brought in each month from March to December who focused on a variety of religions, such as Hinduism, Judaism, Catholicism and Protestantism.
The basis of each theme over the years was to look at, and more fully appreciate, people “who are different from us. The overarching idea is that genius knows no boundaries. Every culture has someone who is special,” said Beelen.
In its early years, OCA members numbered between 15 and 20 and met at YSU, with the primary focus on Mexico. By the third year, however, the organization streamlined programs, broadened its scope and added the themes and cultural-enrichment aspects. It also published three booklets on diversity and multiculturalism.
Typical monthly meetings consisted of a short business portion, a half-hour program, cultural enrichment, updates on current and planned projects and an ethnic meal, said Beelen, who also is the Mahoning Valley Historical Society’s president. In addition, he served as an Austintown Township trustee.
Beelen said the main reason for calling it quits was that he was unable to persuade anyone to step up to replace him as president.
During the last meeting, the Rev. Hilinski discussed what he saw as a strong need for deeper compassion in a polarized world. It’s vital that more people recognize others’ humanity, despite their disparate beliefs and varying interpretations of the world’s main religions, he explained.
Similarly, it’s important that people who meet a Muslim, for example, make a concerted effort to see that person holistically while resisting the temptation to define the individual via stereotypical means, Hilinski noted.
“How religions see each other can bring unity and tension,” he said.
Regardless of their faiths and levels of spirituality, everyone has a universal desire to seek answers to the “unsolved riddles of life,” such as why we exist. The concerns of people’s hearts today are similar to what they have always been, he continued.
“We’re always searching for truth,” Hilinski said. “On a personal level, you love your friends because they’ve been able to share their hearts with you.”