How Identities Affect the College Experience: The Black Experience
We all came to Elmhurst University for a reason, whether that be for a certain major, sports, finance, or convenience. The moment we applied to EU we began the same journey, but have had different experiences.
Our identities and backgrounds play a large part in our EU experience. It shapes who we become friends with, what classes we take, and our experiences in and around campus. In this edition, we look at the experiences and perspectives of some of the Black student leaders on campus.
EC: When choosing a college, what did you look for?
Nakala Nadeau
Nakala Nadeau: “When choosing a college I looked for a place I could call home in a way that I did not feel awkward being there, that I felt welcomed. I was looking for a family and a home. I was recruited, sports was one of the biggest things I was looking at.
Daizja Hollman: “I looked at the student to faculty ratio because I wanted a small to medium size school. I wanted to be able to build connections with my professors so I could feel comfortable going to them for help. I also looked at student demographics because I’ve been fortunate enough to go to good schools and live in the suburbs and with that comes PWI schools and I kind of wanted something more diverse. Elmhurst does have a large white population, but it is still pretty diverse.”
Le’Tavia Hill: “So originally, I was a nursing major. When I was choosing a college, I was looking at their nursing programs as well as the distance from my house being that the pandemic had just started and me choosing to be close to home during that time. I heard a lot of great things about Elmhurst’s nursing program which is why I ended up choosing this school.”
EC: What is your major? Do you think that differs from your experience as a student?
Hollman: “I am a business administration major. I was thinking of this recently, because I am a junior, I have already seen most of the people in my business classes. I have been noticing that in my lower level classes, I was the only person of color or there were only a few POC. My higher level business classes are much more diverse. I am getting a better world view because I get to see so many different perspectives. As a student who represents the student body, it opens another eye.”
EC: Do you think being female and Black has made your experience different?
Hollman: “Yes, I think it is the way I carry myself, but people have expectations about me. I think because I am a female and Black, people think I am going to strive for more because a lot of the time people of color feel the need to prove themselves. Yes, but at the same time I am just a hard-working person. I am not someone to do something halfway.”
Le’Tavia Hill
Hill: “For me and a lot of my friends, we have had this conversation before. Being a Black female student on campus is definitely troubling sometimes. I would say as far as socially and dating wise, it is really hard. I feel like we are definitely overlooked and not taken seriously as black women on campus before we even get a chance to show who we truly are. We are deemed as loud, mannerless, dumb, and ugly. At least that’s how it feels. But I love how despite how people may feel about us, we pick ourselves back up and do what we came to school to do anyway and that’s get our degree. It’s life and that’s how it is sometimes. There will always be times where people will think a lot of things about you that aren’t true but it’s up to you to pick yourself up and move on and most of all, prove them wrong.”
EC: How can the school better your experience as a Black student?
Nadeau: “I would say supporting not only BSU as a Black organization, but other organizations that are for people of color. I think we should embrace all cultures on campus and as much as our school says they do, I think there needs to be more representation of it.”
Hollman: “I think the school does a good job of giving opportunities for everyone, but at the same time it has been proven that Black Americans do not have the same resources. For me, my family is nowhere near rich, I have a crap ton of scholarships, I work so hard to be where I am. My university still charges me so much. Even with my scholarships, I still have holds on my accounts because my parents can not always pay. There is no leeway and I know I am not the only student in this position. My textbooks are, this semester, $130. I do not just have $130. I work hard for this school, but I get no virtually no help with these out of pocket costs. I feel like our university could be a little bit better on that.”
Hill: “I think the administration as a whole is doing an okay job with making sure that the black students are taken care of. There is definitely room for improvement. I think that a start would be to make sure that we feel comfortable in the classrooms. Those rooms are the most important rooms of our college times. Those rooms are where we, as black students, are learning and retaining information that we take out in the world when we graduate. With that being said, if we don’t feel comfortable in these environments, we won’t be able to get the full experience and knowledge that we need to be successful in life.”
EC: Have you experienced any racism on campus or in the area?
Nadeau: “Yes, sadly. 3 times last year. One at a nail salon. They made me pay before I got my nails done, but my friend got to pay after. At a Panda Express, this homeless man ran up to our car and banged on the door. He called me the N-word and was saying he was going to crash my skull in. That was interesting. The one on campus was in the parking lot. We were just sitting talking and this dude was like “be quiet” but like in a ruder way. I told not to say that because it was kind of mean, then he called me the N-word.”
Hill: “I personally have not experienced racism in or around campus but my friends definitely have. Most of their stories revolved around the classrooms and Professors not having proper manners when addressing sensitive topics and also not purposely addressing them. This goes back to what I said previously about not feeling comfortable in what is supposed to be the most important rooms throughout our college life.”
EC: Do you feel supported by the school?
Nadeau: “Sometimes. To be completely honest, administrators and people come up to you and say ‘hey we are here for you,’ ‘hey we want to do this for you,’ but when the time comes it does not happen. They put down an agenda saying they will do it and then they do not keep their word.”
Hollman: “Yes. I still think that there are a lot of resources on campus and all of the administration I have
Daizja Hollman
worked with have been very helpful and have given me opportunities to grow as a person. I really appreciate that.”
Hill: “I personally feel supported by certain people on campus but I cannot say that for some of my fellow friends and mates. I definitely think that there needs to be an administrative community that specifically caters to the Black men and women on campus to help us as far as our education. A few of my friends just recently got kicked out of the school because of their poor grades. Don’t get me wrong, I do know that we play a part in this as well but some of us are unaware of the resources around us that will help us succeed. I wish there were more professors who actually cared about their students’ education instead of doing their job just for a check. Luckily, the BSU advisor, Dr. Ayanna Brown, introduced BSU to a small but effective “open door” community for us.”
EC:What change would you like to see on a national level for Black students?
Nadeau: “I am not saying schools should become an HBCU, but for me it’s more representation for us. For one, our school is a predominantly white institution because of the white population on campus, so I would like to see more representation like the Divine 9, the historic Black sororities and fraternities on campus or having more events for Black History Month, not just from BSU. For instance, for SAAC we do Black History Month quotes and people from different teams speak about how it feels to be a Black student on campus. Even though that is such a little thing, that is representation.”
Hollman: “Black student retention is very low on a national scale. I would love to see some kind of act. Do something to keep Black students in college other than sports.
Hill: “As previously stated, I would definitely like to see an administrative community who are rooting for the black students to succeed on campus. Me being the president of a small organization on campus, who is also a full time student outside of BSU, I can only do so much. As far as campus life, I would like to see more inclusive events that are held here on campus. The ideas are great but as far as the music and entertainment, I would love to see and experience inclusion. There can even be a thing where BSU collaborates with one of the bigger clubs on campus which is the union board to create these inclusive events that caters to every race on campus.”
EC: Do you have a community on campus? If so, what created that community?
Nadeau: “I have a couple communities on campus because of my team. Our team is always very supportive about it. Today before practice we had a talk about Black History Month and National Women in Sports day and the fact that we can do that without it being awkward is great. All of the groups and committees I am a part of, it’s a great community. My friends have also given me a supportive community.
Hill: BSU is my community and safe haven! The mission statement for BSU is that we are a community of students, faculty, staff, and alumni that believes in academic excellence, positive identity development, and the promotion of the Black culture at Elmhurst University. What created this community was the number of Black students who all said the same thing. They wanted a place where they can just be themselves and vent without judgment.”
