Anonymous, Class of 2023

Editorial Team — Sat, 22 Jan 2022 18:59:56 +0000

It’s segregated to a certain degree but definitely not cliquey. I have friends of different ethnicities and races but would say that like most places people of the same ethnicity and race tend to hang out with people who share their identifiers. It’s not hard though to make friends of different ethnicities or races. We have the Davis Center and our Black Student Union. Honestly, I like our BSU but have mixed feelings about the Davis Center. They’ve helped us make a lot of progress up until this point but (again like many other PWIs) it at times feels hard to make the changes we’d like to see. I wish there were more POC staff that could be advisors on this campus or more opportunities to connect with POC staff. Being able to talk to older POC staff about things happening on this campus or just navigating a PWI, in general, would be really nice. I think Williams is supportive of students of color regardless of their identity. I think we could be more supportive of disabled students because the academic environment and the old buildings on campus are challenging to navigate. I am a black woman and have felt generally supported but I can’t speak for other POC’s experiences on this campus. I have a lot of black friends who have various leadership positions and are in different clubs so I know black people in many spaces on campus and that’s comforting. That makes me feel represented in different areas on campus. We’re a small population at this school though but unless you go to an HBCU then the number of Black kids on campus isn’t going to be that large.

Isha Kamara, Class of 2023

Editorial Team — Sat, 22 Jan 2022 18:58:23 +0000

One day, I walked into a predominantly white party off-campus, and a white student yelled “why are all the minorities here?!” Not to only highlight racist incidents, I’ll also add that the BSU had a Friendsgiving and a large group of black students across the years came together to cook and eat together (the food was so good)! Hopefully, this year was the first of many! The school is more cliquey across sports teams than by race. It’s majority white, so it’s not weird to see large white friend groups and the occasionally Black, Latinx, Asian friend groups. There is the Davis center. I’m in a leadership position at my school’s black student union, so my interactions are very different than that of other black students. But we have a black director who works there who keeps clutch. When the rest of the Davis center doesn’t do enough to make our events happen (parties for example), this director always holds it down. The Davis center has spaces on campus meant for black students, Rice House. And Hardy for LGBTQ+ members and Latinx students and the third house for all groups to use as needed. Williams is supportive of students of color with other marginalized identities. Generally, I feel represented. If I don’t feel represented, I try to become that representative. Don’t be afraid to say hi to random other black students on campus! I think it’s the duty of Black upperclassmen to make new students feel welcome to the community and I actively say hello to frosh, but it helps if they are also open to making friends. I would also recommend joining clubs! I’ve met so many wonderful people outside of the classroom, but admittedly I am a very social person.