In a political climate oftentimes criticized for running an “Oppression Olympics,” when it comes to being a minority in academic spaces, it’s difficult to ascertain whether or not the pros outweigh the cons. This discussion is especially relevant after the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on Harvard V. SFFA, during which race-conscious admissions in federally funded universities were ruled unconstitutional, effectively banning colleges from race-based affirmative action during admissions processes. (See Nina Totenberg’s article on this on NPR’s official website for more information.)
As a multiracial scholar who is majoring in Secondary Education, this topic not only interests me but is also one I feel highly qualified to speak on. However, there is a vast spectrum of people who would consider themselves to be BIPOC and/or international students, and my experiences simply cannot speak for all of theirs. For this reason, I’ve taken the time to interview several TCU freshmen on their thoughts about campus life as a minority scholar, as well as their predictions on how the minority collegiate experience will change in the near future. As an additional point of interest, I’ve also spoken with a few BIPOC seniors from my high school’s Class of 2024 to hear about how their college application processes are going in lieu of Harvard V. SFFA, in addition to their expectations for their own college experiences starting next fall.
One of the first questions I asked my freshmen interviewees was how heavily they weighted campus diversity into their college search. Every student who I spoke with considered diversity to be a plus, but not a necessity so much as a luxury. Financial aid and academic scholarships were the primary drivers of their university searches, and perhaps for good reason. After all, academics are what college is all about. However, if a school met financial and academic requirements and was also diverse, this was regarded as a good thing. Not only was this a sign for incoming freshmen that they would be accepted at their university of choice, but it was also a comfort to see people from similar backgrounds thriving in higher education.
The interesting twist was that while many students valued the presence of members of the same ethnicity and/or nationality as them on campus, when it came to forming personal relationships with their peers, there was a pretty even spread between the different kinds of individuals who the students chose to hang out with. Several international students specifically told me that they made a point of not overly fraternizing with members of the International Student Program, but instead went to greater lengths to become acquainted with Americans.
“It’s super cool to get to hang out with someone from your country all the time,” explained one international student from El Salvador. “It’s a very strong bond, but it can also be very toxic. For me, it’s important to meet new people and grow as a person. In my country, it’s not very multicultural, and it would be easy to hang out with only Latinos all the time, but coming here and meeting all different kinds of people is much more interesting.”
Unfortunately, majority-race students did not reportedly uphold the same view. Specifically, when it came to diversity clubs, minority students were far more likely to join a club celebrating a different culture than their own than white students. It was almost as if white students hadn’t considered it an option to join an Asian, African American, or Hispanic student club. One Somalian student additionally pointed out that there was an unspoken divide even between African Americans and international Black students.
“I’m international and in the [Black Student Association] and [African Student Organization],” she informed me. “I told my friend from the BSA that she should come join the ASO, but she didn’t want to join because she wasn’t African.” In that way, diversity clubs can sometimes be more marginalizing than inclusive. White students sometimes forget that inclusivity isn’t just letting everyone celebrate their own culture; it also requires taking the time to learn about one another.
It’s important to note, though, that when it comes to promoting an inclusive and diverse college campus, students only hold so much power. Most of the campus diversity is dictated by college admissions, which brings us back to Harvard V. SFFA. As I mentioned previously, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Students for Fair Admissions and made a groundbreaking decision last summer that race-based admissions were unconstitutional, violating both the Civil Rights Act and the Fourteenth Amendment (see official documentation of this court case on supremecourt.gov for more information). The outcome of this is that colleges cannot consciously dictate what percent of their incoming students will be minority scholars. Historically, when private colleges have made this decision in their admissions, diversity rates have gone down. I personally would predict the same to now be true on a national scale.
The question is, even if this is the case, at the end of the day, is it possible that this really was the more equitable choice and ultimately will be for the better?
African-American-identifying students were the most adamant in their disagreement with this suggestion. Since TCU is only about 5% Black, this made a lot of sense. Black, Asian, and Native American students make up the smallest percentage of United States college scholars, so it’s natural that people from these demographics would feel the greatest disparity between their educational opportunities and that of white people. Natural, and disheartening.
When it comes to African Americans specifically, the U.S. has a lot of catching up to do to promote equality in education. After all, the first Black student to go to an integrated U.S. public school is still alive. Even then, Ruby Bridges was severely harassed and forced to take her lessons in a separate classroom from her white peers. Some Black scholars consider affirmative action a means of compensating for white students’ unfair advantages in education, and a way to bridge that divide. Banning affirmative action could mean that those bridges are now burning.
“When I first heard about [Harvard V. SFFA], I was very disheartened,” revealed one of the African-American freshmen. “It’s going to promote legacy admissions and lead to terrible diversity. A lot of Black students just aren’t given the same opportunities as white students. When I was in high school, I wasn’t given the same opportunities. On every other level, I know I can compete, and I have what it takes, but I just don’t have the same educational background.”
As a multiracial student who grew up in a pretty affluent and largely white community, I knew of the imbalance in education that class gaps and de facto segregation caused, but I hadn’t met many people who had experienced it firsthand. It truly pulled on my heartstrings to think that so many strong and intelligent people might not get a chance to prove themselves because of elements out of their control, and yet I couldn’t help sympathizing with the other side of the argument, that maybe America had been too focused on race, and it was becoming damaging.
“When I first heard about affirmative action, I was scared,” confessed a Hispanic freshman. “See, if you get accepted into Harvard, you have to be capable. If I am accepted to a college just because I am a minority and not because I’m capable, that’s scary. What if I can’t keep up with my classmates?”
Coming to TCU and meeting a lot of Valedictorians and full-ride scholars, I related heavily to this fear. I consider myself smart, but my grades in high school were far from exceptional, and I worried that my being a minority was weighted too heavily in the college’s decision to admit me. So, hearing a fellow classmate voice this concern made me feel seen. But then again, I grew up in a family where financial stability was a buffer against my potential invisibility. Life wasn’t handed to me on a silver platter, of course, but I would be remiss not to point out that there were definitely factors that made my life as a person of color much more privileged than many of my peers. I guess that’s the complex thing about this whole topic. There are so many confounding variables and nuances to everyone’s experiences, that it’s really hard to say if being a minority or international student is ultimately more of an advantage and a blessing, or an obstacle and a curse.
I feel that the best way to round out these opposing views is by hearing out someone from the high school graduating Class of 2024. A good friend of mine from when I was in high school not too long ago, this individual is incredibly intelligent, and I am sure that she will get into an amazing college. However, she is also Asian, which means that she carries the burden of being a ‘model minority,’ meaning she is sometimes disadvantaged due to ‘positive’ stereotypes. For instance, it’s rumored that colleges have in recent years required higher SAT scores of Asian applicants than white applicants. The Asian community has also undergone a lot of hate just a few years ago due to racism tied to COVID-19. For this reason, I was very curious to hear her thoughts as an Asian scholar currently applying to colleges. When asked if she was concerned about her race affecting her college applications, she had a very interesting take.
“I used to think [my race] was an obstacle for me and even considered not specifying my race on applications when given the option,” she deliberated. “I’ve since come to realize that any university that would deny me for something I cannot control would be an environment I wouldn’t want to learn in any way, so now I don’t think it’s an important factor.”
I’ve asked all of my interviewees whether being a minority was more of a blessing or a curse, and I honestly think this is the most reasonable answer. Foreigners, immigrants, and people of color are always going to experience hardships pertaining to racism and bigotry. Inclusivity programs and a loving community help minimize these issues, but they do not fully erase them. Whether you are an admissions counselor, a current college student, or a high schooler applying for universities, there are always going to be things out of your control. So, perhaps the solution is to do the only thing we can do, and control ourselves, making conscious and informed decisions about who we want to surround ourselves with, where we want to go in life, and the changes we want to make in the world. If that means not going to a certain college or joining a specific organization versed in bigotry that you don’t agree with, then so be it. The important thing is that you are creating and surrounding yourself with a community that is supportive in giving you access to resources you can use to succeed.
So, whether white, Black, native, international, or somewhere in between, go forth and be kind, with your head and hopes raised high, and be you, for you are strong, smart, and capable of achieving anything in college indeed.