本文作者是新大即将升学的大三学生Nia Kamau,她主修人权与国际研究双学位,副修经济学, Public Policy, International Affairs, and Arabic. She is currently a Research Assistant for Voices of SMU, an Honors Scholar, worker for the Human Rights Program, and a Residential Assistant.
“新大之声”是一个口述历史研究项目,采访了南威尼斯人娱乐城的有色人种校友. While participating in this project, 我的目标是收集学生的故事,使新大的档案多样化,并研究大学如何吸引和留住有色人种的学生. During the fall and spring semester, I interviewed sixteen alumni of Black, Latinx, and Indian ethnic identities. 其中9人来新加坡管理大学读本科,7人是新加坡管理大学的研究生. 其中15个面试是在工作日的上午或下午在新大诺威克数字解决方案中心进行的. One was virtually recorded through Zoom. The interviews lasted between 45 to 90 minutes long.
The dialogues focused primarily on the alumni’s time at SMU. 受访者讨论了他们为什么来到这所大学,以及学校的哪些资源帮助他们取得了成功. 校友们来自不同的学科和年龄,他们有许多回应和观点. 校友们回答的一个重要模式是多元文化组织在他们新大经历中的重要性.
大多数采访都可以在“新大之声”网站上找到. Others are reserved in the SMU archives exclusively for research purposes. 该项目最终揭示了未被充分代表的新大学生不为人知的故事. 它为该大学提供了一个机会,让它考虑到它在种族问题上的历史斗争,并制定提高校园多样性和包容性的战略.
受访者来自不同的年龄和职业,从工程到人权再到教育. However, there were some common themes in their stories.
校友们在融入校园方面遇到了困难——这是贯穿面试的一个普遍主题. 一位讲述者描述了她多次尝试加入以白人为主的新大组织, such as Program Council and Student Foundation. However, even from the beginning, she found these organizations had a “who knows who” dynamic, 这意味着许多有色人种学生与白人高年级学生缺乏联系,很难进入组织. 她觉得,作为一名黑人学生,她只能参加黑人组织. 另一位女校友在高中时被告知,她看起来不像典型的新加坡管理大学学生. When she came on campus, 由于她的印度背景,她觉得这句话是对的,而且白人学生对她的白人朋友的认可比他们对她的认可更多,她常常觉得自己被忽视了. Another alumna felt the opposite. She expressed feeling like the “face of the race” in her classrooms, meaning that she represented her entire race to her peers, which she noted was a massive burden for a teenager. 另一位讲述者讨论了新加坡管理大学的主要学生组织和活动是如何专门针对白人学生而排斥有色人种学生的. 有色人种学生被赋予了创建自己的社区和社会生活的责任, which this alumnus expressed was an unfair burden to bear.
校友们分享说,他们通过多元文化组织来应对这些感受. 这些机构提供了让他们在校园里感到安全和舒适的空间. 受访者将圆形大厅学者计划(Rotunda Scholars program)描述为一项倡议,该计划是一项由大学运营的项目,旨在支持校园中代表性不足的学生, academic support, mentorship, and campus connections. One narrator underestimated SMU’s lack of diversity when he arrived at SMU; however, he was welcomed by a community of people of color through the Rotunda Program. 这一举措帮助他远离家人,独自生活得更加舒适. 另一位受访者说,她的人际网络是建立在她在同一节目中的关系之上的.
许多学生讨论的另一个组织是新大的多元文化希腊(MGC)和全国泛希腊联谊会和兄弟会. 新大目前有两个多元文化的姐妹会,Kappa Delta Chi和Sigma Lambda Gamma. Both were historically Latina and developed into communities for all races. SMU’s multicultural fraternity, Sigma Lambda Beta, also has Latino roots and has become a diverse organization. 一位校友说,加入Sigma Lambda Gamma是她第一次觉得自己在校园里被人看见. 另一位受访者认为,加入兄弟会是他在新大做过的“最好的决定”. 他说,正是通过这个组织,他变得更有社会意识了. It became the SMU community he could depend on. Another alumna repeated this point, saying that MGC became her primary network off campus as well, as it connected her to powerful leaders from her ethnicity.
Another narrator started an organization specifically for Black women. 这个组织被称为自然头发网络(NHN),现在被称为FRO. She was inspired by the lack of organizations celebrating Black hair. Around the same time this student came to campus, several posts connected to SMU that depreciated Black women went viral. In response, 这位学生创建NHN是为了给有色人种提供一个空间,让他们在外表上得到肯定. 许多受访者表示,他们社交生活的多样性有助于弥补课堂上缺乏多样性的不足. Other programs mentioned were the McNair Scholars Program, which helps students of color pursue graduate degrees, and the SMU Human Rights Program, 哪一所学校以提供课程和空间赋予边缘化群体权力而闻名.
Overall, 我的结论是,多元文化组织在让学生在新大感到舒适方面发挥了重要作用. Many narrators expressed feeling out of place when arriving at the university. Alumni argued that Multicultural Greek life, Panhellenic Greek life, and Rotunda Scholars made the campus feel like home.
受访者表示,这些组织给了他们做自己的空间,让他们表达自己成长的文化. However, 发展这些社区的负担是校园里的白人学生不必承担的. Ultimately, 大学需要在专门为有色人种学生设立的组织上投入与在主要学生群体上投入一样多的资金.
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