Truth Arnold, Class of 2024

There isn’t enough diversity for there to be major cliques, but similar ethnicities try to stick together when they can. I don’t really know if there are resources available for black students honestly. Besides a safe space like Black Student Unity (BSU), there isn’t really that much for the black students. They have supported black student activism and heritage months for most (if not all) people of color. They also take situations of discrimination and hate seriously. Most teachers also support students of color and try to make it as comfortable for us as possible (at least the teachers that I’ve had so far). Honestly, I think they’re trying their best with what they know. They typically listen to their students and faculty of color and take all of it pretty seriously which is all I can hope for really. It’s a bare minimum, but it’s still nice. I know the new administration is trying to make a change with the discrimination team to help with issues against POC which is ultimately nice, but I do not entirely feel represented. With LGBTQ+ people, I think on the surface level they are supportive (and no one is outwardly against it), but I know of some instances where (on an administrative level) there can be some points where I think they don’t like to publicly embrace LGBTQ+ issues for their image. For disabled people, I think there is not enough done or it could be improved upon in the academic and landscape sense. There is not enough consistency in accommodations to the general student body academically for mental/neurological issues out of their control. And physically, the campus is not disabled-friendly for people that use wheelchairs or not other physical accommodations. I think the structure of the campus could definitely do better. If you’ve already been to PWI’s throughout your academic years then you already know the kind of space in which you’ll find yourself in. You probably won’t find people that you’ll be able to relate to culturally. You might find that some content or issues that are said by others might lack sensitivity and tact. And honestly, that just comes with the lack of awareness that some places have with Black people and black culture in general. It honestly gets more tolerable as time goes by and honestly, it’s not too bad when you get used to it. But it doesn’t mean that it’s all that great either if you’ve gone to predominately black schools your whole life. My honest advice is to just stick to your safe spaces, stick to people that you trust and know, and stick to your roots. That is honestly something good that you can lean on by the end of the day outside of the academic things in college and something that can get you out of the chronically non-black get-togethers that happen on campus half the time. Also, find faculty that are very sensitive and understanding to the issues that affect you! Being able to vent to them and ask them for help on certain issues that might be hard to solve will get you places!