A student's message to prospective students, current university students, and faculty
This is a story that should have been written for, and published by, the Vermont Cynic – my school newspaper. However, I never got to write this story during the last few weeks of school due to dedicating my time solely to working on final projects and studying for final exams (I am a student first, after all). So, here I am (some weeks later) writing this story for Mariel (my interviewee), the UVM community, and all current, and former, POCs on college campuses. This story is a part of a column I am writing in the newspaper called, "Now You See Me.” To quote myself:
"Now You See Me" will be a collection of stories I gather from students of color, currently attending UVM, talking about their experiences as students of color at a predominantly white university.
The current presidential administration has been trying to further divide the American people by spreading hate and fear. The Trump administration does not appreciate the beautiful blend of colors that is America, as seen by threats to low-income and minority communities, the immigrant population, and the public education system.
Through “Now You See Me,” I want to spread the message that we are not marked by our differences, and we all experience the same things as students, as Americans, as humans. We are all members of the UVM community, we are all humans of the world, and we are all here.
To read my first story, click here. To read my second story where I interview UVM first-year (soon to be second-year) student, Julio Colón, click here. Now I'll stop rambling and hand over the mic to past Mariel and I. This is Mariel's story:
Mariel Morel is a soon-to-be Sophomore psychology student at UVM. She is originally from the Dominican Republic, but migrated to the U.S. when she was 5 years old and has been living here ever since. She currently resides in New Hampshire. Mariel is a member of the Black Student Union and the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at UVM. I spoke with Morel in April to learn about her experiences as a student of color at UVM and this is what she had to say:
NM: What is your message to faculty and students at UVM, about yourself or the community of color on campus (i.e. how they can be more inclusive, etc.)? And how do you want them to see you? Also, if you want, you can mention prospective students of color as I know many of them may be intimidated by how largely white UVM is. What is a message that you can send out to them?
MM: So, for prospective students, the best thing that I would say is: know what you want from a school. I realized while I was here [at UVM] that I thrive a lot on relationships with people. When I'm at home, it's very easy for me to turn and randomly start speaking in Spanish with people around me because there's a big population of people of color. So it's a big change coming here and being the only, or only other, person of color on my whole floor and having two blue-eyed, blonde hair roommates. It was such a huge difference because we had different perspectives on things and we valued things differently. So, it was kind of a culture shock for me, but it was good to see that and have that be my push to find more POC [on campus]. To prospective students: definitely choose the college that you want, and if you want UVM definitely try to involve yourself in things like ALANA [now known as the Mosaic Center for Students of Color] because it's super important to remember that you have a community here, even though you don't see it in the numbers. We're stronger together, and you'll be able to talk and act how you normally would at home, which is super important to make you feel like home here at UVM. Even if you're not with your mom or dad [family], you can still feel like you can be yourself here. For a long time I felt like I had to put on this facade of like, "Alright, this is my white self now. I'm going to talk like this!" While [on the other hand] if I'm here, in this space with these people, I feel like I don't have to pretend anymore. I could be like, "Girl! Please" and be unapologetically myself, which is something that took me a long time to realize. So some advice that I would give to people coming in is that: no one ever tells you about the adjustments you're going to have to make, culturally. It's going to be different, but the best advice I could give you is: find your people, and try to make it [them] your home-base and then go out and explore more. (laughing) Sorry, I just really had that on my chest. And I don't know, how do I want people to see me? Um, as just somebody that has potential to do great things. Cause sometimes we downplay [the abilities of students of color]. The example that I'm thinking of is: if I, as a person of color, am taking an exam. I'm going to go a little into psychology real quick. There's this thing called stereotype threat, which is when you make someone aware of their stereotype and they do worse because they're aware of this negative stereotype about them. So [what I'm trying to say is] stop treating us differently. Stop treating us differently, in the sense of academics. We're all here for a reason, we're all smart, intellectual people, and we're all trying to do our best here. Try to keep everyone in the same field. We're all here to learn and we all have the potential to learn, and we all have the potential to be great despite our skin color. No matter our skin color.
NM: So, [what you're saying is] don't push these stereotypes onto students of color. Like [they may think], "Oh, you're a student of color so you're not going to do as well as your white peer," or "You're not going to succeed as much as your white peer.” You know what I mean.
MM: Absolutely. I'm sure a lot of professors don't do that here, but it's good to reinforce it because it really does affect people of color, and we see it.
NM: That was like your message to faculty and students all in one! I mean, if you want to elaborate. That was a great answer, but would you want to discuss your message to current students? You touched on prospective students and faculty, but what would you like to say to non-minority students who may have these assumptions about POC? And also, [what would you like to say to] your white peers and allies?
MM: Allies, thank you. You're the best. Um, I don't know what they're afraid of. We're loud and we're rowdy, but it's cause we're having fun and it's just our way of being, I feel like it's a fun way to live. Just be a good ally, be our friend, and treat us like people. And don't say stupid things like, "I don't see color.” That would be great. But I feel like here at UVM, I hope, that the majority of students are people that are, at least, a little bit woke. In the sense of culture, and [the experiences of] people of color. But, there are a few Trump signs around.
NM: Yeah, that Trump sign near University Heights.
MM: Mhm, and what I want to say to those people is: our lives matter. Black lives matter. Please treat us like we're not subordinate to you. That'd be great.