Over the course of the past two years, I’ve had the incredible honor of attending Xavier University, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Since arriving at the school in the August of 2014, I’ve excelled both in and outside of the classroom, earning an award for outstanding student achievement, becoming vice president of the school’s Black Student Association, and joining the Sigma Gamma Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. (I have no idea if Sigma Gamma is supposed to be capitalized, but I’m gonna put some respeck on our name). But in my journey throughout my collegiate life, I have seen many things that, at times, make these accomplishments seem like things that only further my stigma as a black college student. You see I attend a PWI, which stands for Predominantly White Institution. I am part of a black population that only makes up about 9% of the student population at Xavier, and part of an even shorter percentage of black people that are actively involved in black organizations on campus. Now I’m 20 years old and I feel as if I’ve gathered a decade of experience in just two years. I could go on forever with the many grievances I have, but I’ve narrowed it down to five that I feel are important to tell anyone who is black and plans on attending a PWI. Now please understand that this is all based only experience as a student; this is NOT a guaranteed list of what you may experience.
5. Many Black People Assimilate to White Culture
Like I said earlier, the actual population of black people who are actually involved with black organizations is incredibly slim. Since coming here, I’ve encountered a large amount of people of color who wish to fit in with the majority crowd, that majority being the white population. Now initially I saw this as rather disturbing; how could they turn their backs on the people who would show them, by far, the most support? But now I feel I understand the situation a lot better. I compare this assimilation to the white culture to the common fear of public speaking. One of the roots for the fear of speaking in public is being the center of attention; being the unwilling one to stand out. They may feel that if they were to join black clubs, or Greek letter organizations, they may feel that their limiting their chances of being able to fit in, and thus putting them in a spotlight that they don’t wish to be in. Another possible explanation is educational background. It is not uncommon for black student to come from a pre-collegiate background that was also predominantly white. So they may just be going with the same crowd that they were with in high school, which could be difficult to shake when attending college. So my tip to prospective black college students is that being involved with black organizations will open you up to so many rewarding aspects that the majority crown can’t provide you.
4. Attending a Predominantly White College is Not Like High School
I started becoming heavily involved in black activism around the time George Zimmerman was acquitted of the murder of Trayvon Martin. To me it showed that brutality against people of color was still alive and well and that action against it had to be taken. But I was in high school. I still felt like I was in a bubble that protected be from the horrors of the outside world. Just before I moved the 234 miles from Canton, Ohio to Cincinnati, one of the most pivotal acts of police violence in the 21st century occurred. As my life entered a new chapter, another black boy’s had ended’ Michael brown had just been killed. At this point I was deeply entrenched in the idea of black activism and was willing to exit that bubble that I felt I had dwelled in in high school. When I got to college I encountered many that shared my newly found passion, but I also found many who greatly opposed it. So my advice, in this regard, is that when that bubble is popped, be prepared to choose a side when you leave. Because college life has no neutrality.
3. Black Activism is Looked Down Upon A Lot
One of the things we emphasize within the Black Student Association, is white advocacy. We encourage highly the involvement of white students in the organization. However, with that being said, there is a lot of opposition to the Black Student Association. The common argument I hear is that the club is exclusionary; that it was made by and for only black students, which, as I stated earlier, is not the case. But the pinnacle of this opposition occurred my freshman year, when we held a mass protest outside of our basketball arena in protest of the murder of Michael Brown. The opposition we received was appalling. Many alumni of the school shouted racial slurs, yelled at us, and even some students responded in anger as we did periodic die-ins through out the protest. It changed my perspective on the narrative ever since. But one bright side is that we appeared on several different news stations; I even got my 15 minutes of fame that night. However, I will say that my advice is that you hold steadfast in your opposition to oppression, even if it means the majority will fight against it.
2. Taking Time to Yourself is Crucial
Over the summer, the black community of the country took several blows. the two biggest being the murders of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. I was working an internship at the time, and was living on campus over the summer. I had just gotten back from work when I had seen the video of Philando Castile bleeding to death in from of his family and, to be completely frank, I almost broke down. It was too much. But when I finally composed myself, I took time to realize that I needed time to recover and contemplate. I took that with me into my junior year. This piece of advice is a little shorter than the others, mainly because it’s straight to the point. So to my fellow college students, especially freshman, please take time to yourself and recover; it will allow for you to be a better student and activist.
1. Black Greek Organizations are Highly Stigmatized
If you have any type of social media, you’ve probably seen events featuring the fraternities and sororities of the National Pan-Hellenic Council, better known as the “Divine Nine”. The organizations within it consists fraternities like my own, Alpha Phi Alpha, and sororities like Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. At HBCUs they are very well received and are even praised as organizations that promote and enhance the culture of the university. That, however, is not the case at many PWIs. Here at Xavier, the current undergraduate chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha only consists of six people, including myself. This in turn puts me in an even smaller minority, within a minority, thats within another minority. Due to our small numbers, many question our purpose within the greater community of the school. Some see us as heavily elitist because of how much we stand out from the rest of the crowd. Now while this may seem like an issue that only pertains to black Greeks, it can easily pertain to people outside of the organization as well. The aim of black Greek Letter organizations is to better improve the community in which they serve and those within the black community can see that, especially since our numbers are growing. But due to the many stereotypes of Greek life, such as being elitist, those outside of the black community see us as existing simply to exist. So my final piece of advice to prospective students is to research the NPHC organizations your school may have and provide your support; our mission is to serve you, not ourselves.
I hope that these tidbits of my own experience can reach a minority student who is planning on, or is currently attending, a PWI. Despite many of the things I have listed, I wouldn’t want to go to any other school but Xavier. It has made me appreciate being black and the camaraderie that comes with it. It has provided me with an invaluable education and career opportunities that I never would have dreamed I’d eventually have. Remember this is just my own experience; this may differ from school to school and person to person. I just wanted to share my experience as a student of color, so that many others could get at least a glimpse of what I’ve learned and experienced
