Asher, Class of 2021

Editorial Team — Mon, 11 Apr 2022 04:32:56 +0000

Honestly, the culture shock of going to a place where the population is mostly white, without family or prior friends was the most difficult experience I faced. Prescott is not necessarily separated by race, but it is also definitely very cliquey. There was a Black Student Union but once a certain student started attending and spreading rumors about me, I couldn’t go to meetings without people saying stuff or making me uncomfortable. So I’d say there are basically no resources specific to black students. Prescott doesn’t support students of color. The two male faculty members of color have done numerous atrocious activities without consequence or having to take responsibility. These teachers also choose favorites and then only show interest/support for these students. I’m actually a non-binary trans man and wasn’t able to finish my bachelor’s degree because of how little support the school gave me after covid. Until my junior year, I was an RA to pay for living arrangements, and then covid hit so I was forced to live with my abusive mother until she kicked me out. I was shelterless living in my car and more than 4 faculty members knew but did absolutely nothing/offered me no resources. Now they continue to call trying to charge me for my last class toward the degree after I already explained how I can’t even afford to live at the moment. When I tried explaining how much I’ve been going through and how hard life became after coming out as trans, my advisor cut me off to talk about a time she thought she was trans and told her mom only to find out she wasn’t. Then, she rushed me off the phone and didn’t reach out again. All I needed was for someone to help me sign up for one class and take out some loans to pay for it. Both of which are people’s jobs at the school, but who don’t care about me enough to help. I’ve never felt so tossed to the side and unseen by an institution but sadly am not surprised. I have never felt represented here. I wish so many things were different! I think for a start, not lying to us when we’re applying. I saw so many pictures of black students only to arrive on campus as one of two black students in my freshman year (2017) then in 2019 there were about 5-7 black students in the entire on-campus undergrad program. Falsely advertising an environment that doesn’t exist isn’t fair, and leaves those of us who are tricked by it to try creating it on our own. Unless you have a special interest in something at whatever college you are attending, go to an HBCU. I will forever regret not enrolling in one for my undergrad experience.

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.

LGBTQ+

Asher, Class of 2021

Karissa Frederick, Class of 2023