Author: Jasmine Gentry

College Equals Identification Time

     One of the most entertaining parts of being a college student is figuring out who you are. College is the first time, for many students, that there is no such thing as a “boss”. Every decision is made solely by the individual and he or she will have to face the consequences. Sometimes, an unseen “boss” is present and consequences are handed out. This “boss” is also known as society. Society is driven by the social norms instilled within it’s boundaries and therefore, if any individual strays from the norm, pressure is felt to blend into the rules of society. The hardest part about finding yourself, is figuring out how big of an influence society has in your life.  Finding yourself is seemingly impossible to do as the “new kid on campus,” however, many sophomores here at Trinity College have begun to figure out their standing in the hierarchies present on campus. Trinity College, though populated by a majority of white, non-financial aid students, is more beneficial, in the social learning aspect, to non-white students. This remains true because non-white students are more aware of their social class as well as their race. On top of that, they’ve learned to recognize assumptions being made about their social class and race.

     To investigate this topic, our seminar conducted an interview-based study of students’ perceptions of race and social class at Trinity. Our interview guide posed ten open-ended questions and three demographic questions that explored topics, such as personal awareness, social interactions, and other students’ assumptions regarding racial and social class differences at Trinity. The Office of Institutional Research and Planning provided our professor with a stratified random sample of 55 sophomores from the Class of 2016, categorized by race (white or non-white) and first-year financial aid status (receiving or not receiving). Our professor sent personalized email invitations to this group, and assigned each of us to conduct an interview with all who responded and agreed to participate. The typical interview lasted about ten minutes, and was transcribed by the interviewer. The final sample consisted of 18 interviews: 10 students who received financial aid (4 white and 6 non-white), and 8 students who did not receive financial aid (4 white and 4 non-white). All names are pseudonyms and personally identifiable details have been masked, in accordance with our research ethics confidentiality agreement approved by the Trinity College Institutional Review Board.

     One aspect about individual life that is blatantly exposed here at Trinity College is one’s social class and the ability to become aware of where one falls in the social hierarchy. This is a difficult task, especially for college students. On this campus, one would think that students in the upper class level of society would have their eyes opened to the fact that their affluence is prominent in many aspects of their lives since they’re now surrounded by students who are in the same social class and thus participate in the same activities. However, they seem ignorant of that fact. Only half of the white non-financial aid students claimed to have become more aware of their social class upon arriving at Trinity College whereas ¾ of the white financial aid recipients claimed to have become aware. For example, Frank, a white financial aid recipient responded in this way when asked whether or not he has become more aware of his social class: “Certainly.Before I came to Trinity,I had no idea I was poor. I thought I was living pretty darn good life–still am-­- but when I came here and I saw how rich people really are, I was like ‘wow’ and it really hit me… I don’t have money…” (Frank 47) It is obvious here that within one’s own race, there is a huge divide based on how much money your parents have. Some students disagree with the amount of emphasis that is placed on social class, like Andres, when he states: ” Um, I don’t think it’s really come up. Social class I believe is a more subtle thing at Trinity…” (Andres 12). This proves that everything is based on perception. If one chooses to see the college in a particular light, that’s what will happen. However, initial responses don’t necessarily remain the same once thought comes into play. Andres was asked some follow up questions  after the initial interview and he mentioned the following:

     Yeah I knew Trinity was known for being a little bit more full of richer people, and even      in my own town we had our high school but literally less than a block away was a private      school [private school name] which a lot of Trinity school kids come from, and it cost            about thirty grand to go there so it’s like…sort of like…a typical thing. You go to [private      school here] and then you come to Trinity. So I was aware of like, there is a social class,        [but] I never really had to interact with those kids until now (Andres 12).

     Even Andres can see a glimpse of social class playing a larger role here than he initially thought. As a non-white, financial aid, student this opens his eyes to a part of the world he is yet to have really been immersed in: the upper class. Unfortunately, it appears the more upper class interviewees are oblivious to the privileges laid out in front of them.

     A second aspect of individual life that students are more exposed to here, is people to people interaction. Not only do students have the opportunity to have a light shed on their social class, there is also an open door for the thoughts and judgements of others to infiltrate. According to our data, half of the white students had had assumptions made about their social class.  Even still, one story stands out and it is Abe’s story. He states: “Well, I usually dress up really nicely so people think that I am from upper level. You can tell…that they think that I am wealthy, which I’m not,…so I feel like at Trinity people judge you by the way you dress more than anything and the way you act you know, [and they] don’t actually want to get to know you…” (Abe 45) Abe is in between ignorance and realization because he knows that something is amiss, however he has yet to find the drive to fix it. He is content with assimilating himself in order to fit in with the wealthier students. On the other hand, 6 out of 10 of the non-white students had a story to tell about an assumption made about their social class.But one student’s lack of storytelling made him stand out in the crowd. Andres stated above that he did not feel social class was that prominent, however, he continues the statement with a contradiction: “…Sorta like…it defines who people hang out with; it defines who people talk to more often.Directly, I’ve never had any problems with people about social class, but…indirectly it probably is the reason why I don’t know some specific people or some people probably just don’t even care about me because of my social class, but I wouldn’t know that directly.” (Andres 12) He starts out by saying that these assumptions define who you hang out with, yet he has never had any problems “face to face” with someone. However, he tries to disguise the fact that he knows assumptions have been made and could be completely false, yet he continues on to blame these assumptions on why he does not have certain friends. Andres, a non-white financial aid recipient would be in the Pre-encounter stage according to Beverly Tatum. Tatum is a psychologist who explains the theory of racial identity in her piece “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria” In the pre-encounter stage, minority children absorb beliefs and values of the dominant white culture, including white superiority and black inferiority. In this stage, racial identity has “not been realized…and not yet under examination” (Tatum 55). Though Andres is no longer a child, he has yet to understand the links between activities in his life and the preconceptions other people have. He has room to grow and seems to do so throughout the interview.

     The second major topic of discussion is race, and initially, if any certain students have come to a realization about their race that has, therefore, made them more aware of it. There is a correlation between race and financial status, as to whether your race has been put into perspective. This is made evident through the responses of the interviewees. For example, this is Kirsten’s response when asked if she had become more aware of her race: “I think so; yeah for sure cause I don’t meet a lot of Asian students… Um and then when you do meet Asian students, they’re either…really…white Asians or the really like nerdy Asians, so you get two different spectrums of Asian students on campus. So it’s hard to find out which group of Asians you belong in I would say.” (Kirsten 17). Kirsten is a non-white financial aid recipient and is having a hard time identifying because she feels she has to choose an identity. Stacy Lee is a professor in Educational Policy Studies  and noted for her work “Unraveling the Model Minority” . Lee has a theory on identity formation that explains why Kirsten feels the way she does when finding a group of Asians to identify to. “The process of identity formation among all of the Asian American students was influenced by their perceptions regarding their positions and locations within society and their understanding of their interests. Asian American students in all four groups judges their situations by comparing their social positions to that of whites, non-white minorities, and other Asian Americans”(Lee 121). In other words, the stereotypes and preconceived notions of peers and administration lay the foundation that leads Asian American students making a choice of who they are and who they want the world to see them as. 6 out of 10 non-white students felt they had become more aware of their race and Kirsten was one of them, whereas 2 out of 8 white students felt more aware. Interestingly enough, 5 out of 9 financial aid recipients had become more aware of their race whereas only 3 out of 9 non-financial aid students felt that way. Of those three, one, Victoria,  began her response as a borderline “yes” and finished as a solid yes though seeing the effects on other people of her race. Victoria declares:

     I think yes and no. I think…it’s [a] very different environment from [home city] where        everyone is kind of mixed together more, so to speak…here I think what has definitely        bridged the gap for me is the fact that, you know, I’ve had the fortune of…playing [a            specific sport] or going to a prep school and so, you know, people don’t necessarily just          look at me and say ‘Oh, she’s, you know, from [country she was adopted from]’, …                they’re able to see more in common. That has definitely been interesting to watch, just        because I have friends who are…more…identifiable [stumbles on “identifiable”] by their      race than I am, per say. And they have been, I don’t know, sidelined by it, a bit more            (Victoria 25).

     Finally, when asked about assumptions being made about one’s race 8 out of 10 non-white students shared examples about assumptions being made while only ⅜ white students felt assumptions had been made. Of the non-white students, two experiences shed a harsh light on the reality of Trinity College. Yvonne shares the first story.

     …people have assumed well after they get passed the whole thing that I’m not rich then      they assume that I’m from an urban area, which I am, I’m from [a particular city],                which is a predominantly black….. city but it’s not like the only race there…people also,        well on this campus, more recently have questioned whether I go here like specially if I        am in sweatpants or like if I look like not put together they would question whether I go      here or if I’m from the Hartford area (Yvonne 20).

     In order to be “put together” this non-white student would have to be dressed in high class fashion and carry herself in a way that would blend in with Trinity culture. In order to stay the individual she is, she bears the burden of racial profiling. The fact that she recognizes this happening would allow Beverly Tatum to declare that she is in the Encounter phase. At this point, the individual experiences a certain level of racism, which leads to self- segregation and an active desire to find those who have shared experiences (Tatum 55-56). Yvonne knows there is a problem, especially since being “put together” would mean being something she is not and she has thus begun her ascent on the racial identity ladder. The second experience that deserves attention is Fred’s. “I think people correctly assume that I’m African American. A couple times Campo [Campus Security] has stopped me because of it…they’ll stop and ask me…well I assume it’s because of it [my race]…they’ll stop and ask me if I go to school here, questions like that, but that happens rarely, once in a while.” (Fred 23). This proves that it is not just students judging each other because judgement is being cast by employees as well.  Both of these students have experienced a profiling of sorts and have now become more aware of the assumptions being made about them. The white students seem to have a little bit harder of a time with the realization that their race plays a role in more than they imagined, but a few have experienced encounters with profiling.

     One of the three white students who felt assumptions had been made about her race had an experience that rubbed her the wrong way.

     “ I think, like, people because I am white and upper middle class they think I am spoiled      and I have never worked to earn anything kind of so that has been definitely something      where I am like you don’t know anything about me, like, just because of these simple            facts doesn’t mean anything, like, even if they were right even if I hadn’t worked for            anything in my life, like, you don’t know that. I was at [a place to eat on campus] and…        or not that place… I was at [another place to eat on campus]… [I went up to] the lady          and I was like ‘hey can you check how many bantam bucks I have left?’ and she was like      ‘yeah um oh you have 15 dollars left, oh your parents came through for you’ and I was          like first of all I can get you fired for that and second of all that is very rude and making        a ton of assumptions about, like, who I am and what I do and don’t work for because I          have a white friend and she literally works for every single bantam buck she puts on            there and she was with me and was like, what the?” (Alice 43).

     At first glance, one would think Alice is dignified in her anger since someone made an assumption about her social status, profiled her,  without knowing her. However, her anger about being profiled comes across as out of place when presented to a minority student who would not see this as a profiling incident. What Alice didn’t understand is that having one’s parents “come through” for them is actually a good thing. Alice took the statement to mean that she must be rich since she is white and therefore her parents put money on her card. But the truth of the matter is that the phrase means that you’re in good hands and someone is watching out for you. There is an obvious cultural barrier here considering Alice didn’t understand the true meaning of the phrase and then proceeded to feel dignified in threatening the job of the woman just because what the lady said did not sit well with Alice. She, as a student, felt she had the power to remove an adult from her position at the college solely because she was offended by what the woman said to her. Alice neglected to say anything directly to the woman about this threat, so she doesn’t really have as much “power” as she thought. Had alice been made aware of the meaning of the phrase as it is used in the woman’s culture, her reaction would have been a “thank you” instead of a threat.

     Students at any multi-racial and socioeconomically diverse college will experience issues and learning experiences. What each student does with this new knowledge is up to that individual. Even though the majority of students here at Trinity are white, the real learning outside of the classroom benefits the non-white students because they are put in a position where learning from experience is inevitable. Students on financial aid experience the same types of inevitable learning when it comes to realizations about their social class. When all is said and done, it is the minorities who get the most social learning out of their attendance at Trinity college because they get to see the world in a different light.

Is He Comfortable in His Own Skin?

The ability to not only accept the history of ones race, but also take on the obligation to paint the view of one’s race in a positive light, is extremely complicated for a minority student in America; especially a Black one.

Gordon, a student at the University of California-Berkley, is one example of a student immersed in a stage of racial identification defined in Beverly Tatum’s work Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria.

Gordon begins his place in the film Skin Deep with: “All they want to see is that they admit “X” amount of Blacks, Latinos, so on and so forth. After that they don’t care about you… There are no support groups,” (16:20). He’s at a stage where the struggle of being a black human being is real. However, despite this, he is determined to beat the odds, not only for himself, but in order to make known the struggle to the world.

The transformation Gordon made, even just during the film proves that he belongs in the fourth stage because he has expressed the will to “establish meaningful relationships across group boundaries with others, including Whites, who are respectful of this new self-definition,” (Tatum 76). Gordon hasn’t quite made it to the fifth stage because it doesn’t seem like he’s “found ways to translate a personal sense of racial identity into ongoing action expressing a sense of commitment to the concerns of Blacks as a group,” (Tatum 76).

During the discussions one point that was made repeatedly was that students couldn’t make up for what their ancestors did. Though justified, Gordon changes the view and sets the stage for the opening up of raw feelings when he says, “Things are happening now. Slavery still exists.” (26:00)

 

 

Works Cited

Reid, Frances, Sharon Wood, Sarah Cahill, Michael Chin, Stephen McCarthy, Deborah Hoffmann, and Mary Watkins. Skin Deep. Berkeley, CA: Iris Films, 1995.

Tatum, Beverly D. “why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?”: And Other Conversations About Race. New York: BasicBooks, 1999. Print.

 

This essay was assigned to be written from the perspective of a race advocate, and does not necessarily represent the views of the author.

 

Race Isn’t Just a Color Thing

Written by: Jasmine Gentry

When asked to “create a class” that will be entering The College represented by we admissions officers, who recently applied to college, the task seemed quite simple. We were gravely mistaken. The task was to narrow down the applicant pool from fifteen students to three based on overall ratings while taking into consideration academics, extracurricular activities, personal interest in The College, and background. Once all fifteen applicants were ranked, a financial aid round ensued, and acceptance letters were sent out in batches. The first three students who accepted the offer to attend The College were admitted. Our simulation, though legal, experienced a few hiccups that prevented the admittance of the best possible class due to a lack of equal educational opportunity. These hiccups, though seemingly small, held prospective students’ futures in their hands. These hiccups may be better known as over subjectivity, personal opinion, or ignorance of necessary qualifications. Our own biases weren’t the only obstacles. The College allocated us with an extremely small financial aid budget that was seemingly impossible to work with. In part, it’s evident that The College needs to rethink priorities: a phenomenal class or a cheap class? It was extremely hard for our group of admissions officers to decide what made a student qualified and the weight each aspect of the students’ application should carry. This may seem arbitrary since this was our first simulation, but the “reasoning” behind our inability to decide was pure ignorance of what it takes to be the best candidate for The College. Without that knowledge, the chance a student had in order to attend The College was extremely biased based on who was speaking in the discussion room. Our hiccups led to the absence of equal opportunity. Equal means something applies to a whole, a collective. Opportunity is a chance.  Equal opportunity in education is thus a chance for all students to be provided the best education.

Let’s start by addressing the simulation as a whole. There were no legal breaches in our simulation (the head of admissions made sure of it). However, the morality of our decision remains in question. Let’s face it; the simulation was completely biased based on the officer who was reviewing the application. Our personal beliefs of what was most important or notable affected the rating a certain student was given. For example, a big emphasis was placed on whether or not a student was private or public schooled and whether or not they had a good interview. Ironically enough, the officers who focused on these aspects presented the same characteristics in their own applications. Now, it may be said that those qualities are important, however, the high school a student attended and whether or not he or she interviewed isn’t necessarily controlled by the student.  There are extenuating circumstances that weren’t taken into consideration because of an officer’s point of view. We should’ve been looking at students with character. Character is built from background: race being an extremely influential factor. Why? Because if a student isn’t the same race as the majority of the students that will be attending The College, a certain stereotype implants itself, with the help of society, into the head of the minority student. There are common stereotypes that have made themselves prevalent in today’s society. Think about it, Black students are ghetto, Hispanic students can’t speak English, Asian students like math and only math, European students are rich and snobby, white students still can’t get over white supremacy. These never-fading ideas are implanted in the minds of children because society tells them it’s true. We build ourselves up on what we think we are, so if we think we’re a part of the stereotype, that’s where we will fall. It’s said that history repeats itself and therefore, “…race is an especially important aspect of diversity and deserves special attention because of the continuing salience of race and the historic, legalized race-based discrimination that existed in the United States.” (Katherine). Now, it has been said that the best candidates for The College will be good students despite outstanding circumstances, but in all honesty, the best students exist because of the outstanding circumstances.

The next question that arises is: did we create the best possible class? No. The best possible class would be culturally diverse, athletically talented, from all social classes, academically sound, artistically creative, composed of leaders and followers, and ultimately unique. The goal for The College is to provide the diversity that acts as a driving force for students to become “better learners and more effective citizens,” (Haas). We tried to create this kind of class in the beginning when we first created overall ratings, but when we reached the financial aid portion of acceptance, our ratings meant almost nothing. In order to accept our top three applicants a financial aid budget of $90,486 deemed necessary (Decision Day). Our budget was $80, 000 including a $10,000 merit scholarship for one applicant (Correspondence). We were more than $10,000 over budget and thus turned to our next candidate who unfortunately needed $47,740 in financial aid. Four out of the five of our top candidates were racially diverse; however, they required the most financial aid and therefore were declined admittance (Decision Day). When all is said and done, an equal opportunity at education is impossible due to the unavailability of funds to compensate need. We ended up looking for a stereotypical clique of classic students that would inhabit The College, instead of students with potential, because we couldn’t afford them.

It’s ironic that race, and the need for financial aid are so closely related, considering the fact that America, and its’ education especially, is supposedly a place where equal opportunity thrives. Anyone is supposed to be accepted into the American society since we’re a melting pot, and every child has the right to a good education since education is the key to success. Oddly enough, if your race lands you in the minority category, a true struggle ensues regarding your educational opportunities. In the case of this simulation, race was considered when looking for diversity, but had to be overlooked when looking at finances. When it comes down to it, if the financial aid budget is too small to admit the best possible class, then funds elsewhere need to be reallocated in order to compensate for those students who are minorities and stuck needing assistance due to the color of their skin since our society is set up to put them in a certain social class as a result. The same schools that turn away students based on their need also pull strings for athletes who aren’t necessarily academically qualified to attend said school. Schools with athletic teams tend to recruit students based on athletic ability, what they see on the field, not their test scores or report cards. Admissions offices are challenged to accept star athletes because the athletic record is just as important as the academic record. Every school wants to be in the limelight one way or another (Winters). Maybe some different strings need to be pulled.

All in all, race is a necessity when trying to build a diverse and best possible class for any college, The College especially. This is because the diversity of race breeds diversity in culture and a set of students, each having a completely different outlook on life. College is about more than overpriced textbooks and a high GPA; it’s about learning to function in the world, not just your hometown; it’s about a loss of ignorance and a gain of experience. “Whether we’re dealing with high school kids, middle school kids, graduates or undergraduates, by helping them to understand how to own and be accountable for their passion we do a lot of good things. One of those things is to increase diversity,” – Richard Cherwitz (Parr).Having a class with the most diverse students takes race in as a huge factor because race tends to tie with origin and that allows a school to branch out across the country and the world. If colleges didn’t branch out, the students that attend their schools would be virtually the same person with a different hair color. All students would be from the same areas, social standards, backgrounds, and lifestyles. The only benefit for all upper class black students to study together, while elsewhere, all lower class white students study together is for each group to learn about how they all have the same background with subtle differences. That defeats the purpose of education, of branching out, of broadening horizons. College is about more than a degree. It’s about learning how to show some humanity because you understand humanity. If the opportunity to experience other cultures is taken away, what’s the point in growing up if nothing has changed since high school? Race consideration isn’t just a black and white thing; it’s a people thing.

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

Correspondence from Dean of Admissions (from simulation), Color & Money seminar at Trinity College, Fall 2013,http://commons.trincoll.edu/colorandmoney.

Decision Day (from simulation), Color & Money seminar at Trinity College, Fall 2013, http://commons.trincoll.edu/colorandmoney.

Haas, Mark. “Research Shows Diverse Environment Has Educationalbenefits.” Research Shows Diverse Environment Has Educationalbenefits. The University Record, 22 Mar. 1999. Web. 04 Oct. 2013.

Parr, Chris, chris.parr@tsleducation.com. “Positive Efforts To Increase Diversity Without Prejudice.” Times Higher Education 2117 (2013): 26-27. Education Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 1 Oct. 2013.

Reed, Katherine. “Two Arguments For Race-Conscious Admissions Policies.” American Journal Of Education 119.3 (2013): 341-345. Education Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 1 Oct. 2013.

Winters, Carla A., and Gerald S. Gurney. “Academic Preparation Of Specially-Admitted Student-Athletes: A Question Of Basic Skills.” College And University 88.2 (2012): 2-9. ERIC. Web. 4 Oct. 2013.

Still looking for Aladdin.