Prior to my senior year of high school, I honestly knew nothing about Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP). Being originally from Brooklyn, New York (though I moved to Pennsylvania when I was 12), I wasn’t a fan of going to a community college first then attending a university like most of my white classmates mentioned. I knew I wanted to go to a four-year college and stay in state. So, I applied to many different university nonstops. So, there I was accepted to IUP – Punxsutawney Campus. I never knew I would fall in love and be accepted to university approximately 4 hours away from my family.
The Punxsutawney Campus was ten times smaller than the IUP main campus. Here It felt like I was in high school all over again as if I was in the 13th grade. Though the university was a PWI before I knew it, I was surrounded by brown and black faces, of whom I assumed would be my future classmates. Which many of them was since I majority if the students that went to Punxsutawney were students of color. As I a walked around campus, current students told me about the different resources but most of the greater resources were on Main Campus. Even though I was on the Punxsutawney campus for my freshman year, I was still familiar and knew the main campus very well. My freshman year flew by quickly as I indulged myself in the black community at IUP Punxsutawney and main campus.
As sophomore year approached, I was so excited to be on IUP main. Not only was I know attending the main campus that was larger than Punxsutawney, but I also got the chance to explore more and get to know who I was as a person. Being on the main campus was much different, the black and brown faces became less seen, my classmates that I had at Punxsutawney became more diverse, and the organizations were much harder to find. There was still a small and lively black community that is filled with people of different majors, backgrounds, and ideas. I spent almost every week at an educational event, a social event or a cultural event.
From the Greek life events, the basketball and football games, and the events that were thrown by other Black organizations, I totally forgot that I attend a PWI. Well, that was until a student post a photo via snapchat of other black students in the campus library that was captioned “monkeys stay in groups”. This led to unhappy minority students protesting in front of Wallwork Hall addressing the situation waiting for the dean to say what will happen or how can we make the campus more diverse and not racial. IUP is supposed to be my second home, not a place where I should feel ashamed of being colored. Not only that, immediately the pride and sense of belonging was shattered when I came across Yik Yak, which is an anonymous posting app for college students. On this app, fellow students would throw out racial slurs, calling us crybabies and a host of other names. They have expressed disgust without protest, yet the racism has not stopped on campus! I decided to join an on-campus organization called Diversity Student Council (DSC), where we distill the heart and soul if students, faculty, and staff to promote awareness, advocacy, and acceptance of individuals on and off campus. We assist with issues on campus and transforms stereotyped mindsets.
For the second time in less than two years, another racist social-media photo and caption seen by IUP students and administrators. This time we promoted the call for action against this hate speech! This was a snapchat picture with a blackened sandwich with a caption saying “How do you like your grilled cheese? The same as my slaves.” This was not the first time something like this happened on campus and nothing has been done, the IUP chapter of NAACP and seven other campuses (including DSC) groups hosted a “resolution seminar” where over 100 students and staff combine attended. Where many students stood up spoke their thoughts to IUP administrators which were Kathleen R. Linder associate vice president in the student affairs division; Yaw A. Asamoah dean of College of Humanities and Social Science; Theodore G. Turner, director of the IUP Multicultural Student Leadership and Engagement Department, and Pablo B. Mendoza, assistant to the president of social equity. Though there was no real solution to this the poster of this photo did apologize and was the first time in almost 30 years that a student has apologized.
I love my university. I love being part of the Hawks but there are times when being black at a PWI is difficult. At times I found it hard to be part of Diversity Student Council because how was a small group of 4 people re-up an organization that was not getting funded by the school and still put our voice out there. Being a part of this organization comes with challenges, but it also comes with positives. For every time I’ve been the only black student in a class, I’ve found 20 or more black students willing to study within the library. Your university experience is what you make of it and sometimes I do wish I had gone to a school where everyone looks like me or a place where student swag surfed at football games instead of parties or black events, but I didn’t and that is perfectly fine. At my PWI I have found a great community of scholars who look like me, willing to stand in the gap, and a wonderful love. I wouldn’t like it any other way!