Kiana
Emory University, Senior
Kiana came from a predominately black public school, where black students made up about 60-70% of the student body. She said she has always attended schools that were predominately black. When she was looking at colleges, 3 of her top 4 choice were private universities. She wanted to come to a private school because of the small class sizes and the close relationships you can build with your professors. She also wanted to go to a private school because “the names of private universities are more well known" on both a national and international level.
I asked Kiana if she felt a big transition from high school to college in terms of the diversity. She said, “Coming here, it was more of a culture shock, because even though I wrote my into essay on diversity, I wasn’t anticipating it to look like this.” She said she had visited the college before, but it wasn’t until she started school at Emory that she saw what the student body REALLY looked like. She noted that Emory is very diverse, and that there are people from all different backgrounds that attend the college. However, she still thinks it’s not EQUALLY diverse because white students still make up the majority of the population. She had this shock and realization in her freshman year during an English seminar. “In my freshman English class being in a class of 18 or 19 students, where there are only 2 black students, and both of those black students being female was so weird to me,” she said. “I had never experienced that before.” When she looked at the demographics of a lot of her classes she realized, “I’m really the only one.” Kiana believes that certain qualities of black people are missing in classroom environments that aren’t very diverse. Kiana said that in some classes the discussions could’ve been enriched if more black students were in the classroom to share their ideas. She has even experienced some of the spotlighting in her class that the Carter-Andrews study describes. She took a dance history course, and she was one of a few black students in the classroom. During portions of the class where they would discuss the African origins of dance, Kiana said that the professor would actually orient her body towards the black students in the classroom, almost as if she was expecting them to have input to share. Obviously, this would make anyone feel uncomfortable in a classroom setting. |
Kiana sees her situation as a minority at a private school as an opportunity to change others' view of black people. She said, “One thing I tried to keep in mind going through those classes, was that I could be setting an example of, or defining a white person’s definition of what it means to be black.” This is why she has always conducted herself in a calm, respectful manner in and outside of the classroom. She said she doesn’t want to “give them a reason to validate a stereotype” about black people. She doesn’t want herself or her peers to make a fool of themselves and give others an excuse to judge, or make a false assumption about black people. I think this is such a unique perspective to have, and I think it’s so powerful that she sees her situation as a minority as a great opportunity. However, because of this she seems to be a little more cautious about her actions and mistakes. Kiana said, “I know whatever I do I’m gonna be great at it, but I always have this thought in the back of my mind: ‘don’t mess up.’ Because people will be like ‘oh she messed up because she’s black.’” This is because she feels that her “mistake will get called out in a harsher way than it would’ve if it was somebody else” that’s not black.
I asked Kiana about the social life for black students at Emory based on her own experiences. She said that most of her friends at Emory are black, and that she tends not to go to events where she knows she will be in the minority. Overall, she feels that “there is a lack of opportunities” for black students on campus in terms of non-academic events. The black community at Emory only makes up about 9% of the student body. Having safe spaces for minority groups on campus is SO important because they provide more opportunities for students to gather. “Safe spaces are definitely important because I feel like that’s where the communities thrive,” Kiana said. “Especially being black at a predominately white school, not having that space could create problems. If those spaces weren’t there, so many more issues would be running rampant within the community.” She described how the safe spaces, like the Emory Black Student Union allow black students to come together and feel appreciated on campus. This also gives them the space to host events that black students in particular would really enjoy, like the “90s Music and Chill” night held in October. Kiana thinks that it’s great that the administration has allowed the black students at Emory to have safe spaces, and that they’re doing a lot of good for the black community. |
Photo: Essence of Emory 2016, Jasmine Walker.