October 26, 2014 - 22:20
** sorry again for my late post :/
I would like to consider identity, access, and education in elite colleges and universities as my institutional standpoint. I think about how identity and access is a pertinent issue to me in these institutions every time I walk across my college campus and realize that I personally know just about everyone that looks like me there. I can usually count the number of POC students in each of my classes on one hand… and the same goes for faculty and administration. My experience with lack of representation is not limited to my campus, it is an issue that is prevalent on almost all elite colleges/institutions in America. Many of the recent “I Too Am (Insert elite college/university here)” movements bring to light the marginal experience of under presented students of color on their campuses.
Earlier this semester, a friend and I were walking to the cafeteria and passed a Black freshman that I did not recognize. I voiced to her that it was odd for me to see a Black student on campus and not know who they are. She seemed to be taken aback by my statement so we stopped walking and I asked her what was up. She responded telling me “that says so much about your experience here… I walk past white students that I don’t know everyday and I am never bothered about not knowing them”. Now, her statement perplexed me. Something about what she said left an unsettling feeling lingering in my mind for the rest of the day, up until I finally found a chance to really process what she said and what about it bothered me. And then it hit me. I was upset because I could not empathize with her experience. I couldn’t think of a time during my educational experience that I wasn’t hyper aware of my race and the small number of people who look like me in these schools. And beyond that I couldn’t even fathom being at an elite institution where people like me were over-represented to the point that walking past unknown faces was a normal occurance. That thought alone is why I constantly consider idenity and access to education in these elite institutions.