American University

Aisha Jallow, Class of 2022

Editorial Team — Tue, 22 Mar 2022 22:21:53 +0000

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.

Karissa Frederick, Class of 2023

Editorial Team — Tue, 22 Mar 2022 22:19:15 +0000

I would definitely say to an extent there is some segregation. Of course, we all take classes together, but in the residence hall, you won’t necessarily see the white kids and Black kids together. It isn’t a melting pot like they portray college to be. I wanted to join the AU pride club, but I didn’t because there aren’t a lot of Black people in the group. After class, I’m in my room because I don’t necessarily feel comfortable being on campus. There have been a lot of instances with black women specifically, not being treated the way we should be treated. Both by admin and by the student body. We are a PWI, so these instances are reflective of America, but it is very sad because we are labeled the most politically active school in the country. Most of the support I will say that I do receive is from the affinity groups: African student organization (ASO), Black student union, and Caribbean circle. In those spaces that are predominantly places for people of color is where I feel my issues are heard. We do have Black affinity housing. It is set aside just for black-identifying students to be a part of which is definitely a step in the right direction. We also have the center for diversity and inclusion (CDI). We have some representation in student leadership, but the student leadership is majority white. Our current student body president is a Black woman. Our student government has 10 Black senators. There is so much I wish the school would do more, but I don’t even know where to start. For me, I will say coming to this school was a cultural shock, being West Indian, I grew up and all of my friends were West Indian. I didn’t make friends maybe until my 2nd semester of freshman year. Therein lies the problem, many people on this campus tend to see Black people as a monolith. There are Caribbean/West Indian, African, etc. It was hard to find Black friends. I would hang around the African American kids, but there were certain things that were different. If anything, those groups get it more than the white kids. I wouldn’t say this is a problem so much now, but freshman year, I felt the black community was sort of cliquey. I guess it was hard to be accepted. “I look like you so why can’t we get along?” It definitely took a whole pandemic and coming back to school in my junior year to have that sense of acceptance or a black community. In a sense, I thought that I couldn’t get in. I do feel represented now. I see so many Black women on campus. (Side note: There are not many Black men on campus in general. A majority of the Black people here are women.) I was able to create not only a Black female friend group but a Black female community. The student body president is one of my close friends. A lot of them are on campus trying to make a change. I know the Black girls who come after me are definitely gonna have it easier than I did. Also, our school has a lot of engagement on social media. Not only do we post our current happenings, but we also try to have community-building events. For example, we had a mental health dialogue about Black mental health on campus. For Valentine’s day, we had a Black love event where we talked about what Black love looks like. Soon we have a love of diaspora ball. There is so much hardship outside so we don’t focus on that. We answer our DMs, we do a lot of collaboration events, we collaborated with AU pride recently, we collaborated with Caribbean students in the past. I am in the Black Student Union, but I still represented West India in the recent pageant. The Caribbean circle as well as ASO have a pageant. I was Miss Grenada because my family is from there. It is like Miss America, but the boys can participate too. We talk about food, our views, what we love about our country, etc. I love sharing my experiences and what I love about my country. There are so many kids on campus in different parts of the diaspora and we try to encourage everyone. If you’re not African, still come to the African events. If you are not Black, still come to the Black events. At the end of the day, we are all trying to build a community for each other. We don’t want to gatekeep anything. At the end of the day, we still share the same black skin color. We never want to divide each other inside the diaspora.

Kev Okogu, Class of 2022

Editorial Team — Sat, 22 Jan 2022 17:23:20 +0000

American University is very diverse and inclusive of different genders, races, sexualities, etc. I’ve seen a lot of resources and phone numbers around campus that Black people can reach. I do not feel like my voice is heard on campus, but I don’t feel like I have much to say. The biggest piece of advice I’d give is to find your home. Find a community. It’s always good to find people like you so they can help you and you can help them as far as mental health and not feeling isolated go whether that is the Black student union or not.