Aisha Jallow, Class of 2022

There is definitely a lack of resources when it comes to the counseling center there is a lack of therapists in general but also a lack of Black therapists and Black women specifically, especially when trying to talk about struggles relating to racial issues and racism. Although Black affinity housing is needed, it is not the best housing that AU could have given us. They did renovations, but the bathrooms and some main areas were not renovated as they said they would. There should be more support for affinity to host events. Last year they said we couldn’t order food for our events which really hurt our events like the Caribbean affinity group because that is how we gather people. It hurt our turnout. While the rule was supposed to stop the spread of COVID (the dining hall was still serving buffet style, and people were still eating together), it kind of only hurt the affinity groups with an appreciation for family-style meals even the Asian American student organization. It became more expensive to get them done pre-packaged style. I do feel represented at AU, I came into AU already in organizations. I barely left high school, but I was in African student organization which I am the president of today. And I had a lot of strong Black female figures to look up to and go to for advice and I really admired these girls for creating a Black community for AU. I was fortunate to be on the E board so I was able to meet with these juniors and seniors, but a lot of people may not have those same opportunities. Oftentimes when you come to a PWI, people think it will be hard to find the Black community, but college is what you make it and you are not the only person looking for people to be around. Go to events. You don’t have to be Caribbean to go to Caribbean events you don’t have to be African to go to African events, etc. Don’t be discouraged when ur entire floor is 99 percent non-Black, the 2 Black girls on my floor became 2 of my closest friends. Just keep going to events. The ASO pageant is open to everybody you don’t have to be African to come. We don’t have a big African community but we are open for anybody to learn about it.