Dear Universities, From POC

By Rachel Hong

Portola High School

Over the COVID-19 pandemic, the blatant racism in America has increased beginning with the Coronavirus that created a stigma toward the Asian community to many people openly expressing their racist beliefs with the death of George Floyd that aroused great protests from people all over America supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. As students return to schools this school year and the increased activism efforts that continue through social media, it is another chance to work towards eliminating another problem in America: racism on campus--a problem that has risen significantly since 2011. 

An organization called Dear PWI (PWI standing for predominantly white institutions) runs an Instagram account called @dearpwi which has been grasping the attention of many, with 30,000 followers and several of them being universities (Vanderbilt University, Williams College, Vassar College and many others). On this page, the organization has hundreds of posts dedicated to sharing stories from POC (people of color) as well as other minorities that have experienced discrimination or uncomfortableness from ignorance on their campuses. 

One student who attended Columbia University shared how when she was talking with her dean in a meeting for the first time and told her she was Native American, the dean responded “Oh my god. Do you guys still like to hunt?” and used the rest of the appointment to track down where the student lived “down to the tee”. A student at the University of Michigan shared how in a class that taught the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion, the professor, who was a white female, began singling out the Asian students, saying how “[they] always try to act like white people”--this was “just one out of the many racist remarks she has made against Asians throughout the semester”. These are only two stories out of hundreds that reveal students’ experiences with discrimination against their race and/or sexuality. 

It is clear that blatant prejudice still exists on campuses today, and a solution is greatly needed.

According to an article by the American Progress, “State flagship universities are supported with taxpayer dollars and therefore should be accountable to all residents, including residents of color”. This means that even state universities have the funds to change their policies to promote diversity, equality and respect on their campuses. Universities should seek to achieve inclusiveness on their campuses as racist acts keep increasing; they can achieve this in multiple ways through hiring more POC and minorities or creating more awareness about racial traumas as well as educating their staff about racial awareness. There are several universities that have already implemented certain policies for equity on campus such as the University of Maryland, College Park that has hours dedicated for students to come and to meet with a counselor of color. 

With the continued activist mindset and ideas that are raging across social media, seeking racial equity on campus should be a future that we as a community work to reach.