Running Head: UNDERSTANDING AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS

Understanding African American Students Action Plan Scott Kolmer CCSD 567 Azusa Pacific University

UNDERSTANDING AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS

Objective 1: Develop an awareness and understanding of the African American culture and what it means to be African American

a. Write out a list of everything I think I know about the African American culture and what African Americans deal with on a daily basis. Here is everything that I THINK I know: Most of the African American culture in America started with slavery, where they were extremely oppressed by the white population. Even after becoming free, they faced intense racism and segregation in America simply for being black. During the intense segregation, people like MLK and Malcolm X were advocates for equal rights. This battle went on for a long time in fighting for equal rights, ultimately leading to where we are in this generation. For the most part, African Americans are seen as the same as white people. African Americans sometimes tend to gravitate towards other people of their same race and ethnicity, as do other races. There are many scholarships and affirmative action acts meant to spread diversity in our society. African American students probably dont face too many challenges other than what any normal students face.

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b. View introductory lecture on African American Studies on learnerstv.com. I chose to watch an introductory lecture on learnerstv.com titled Black Political Though Diversity and Continuity by Mark Sawyer. Started class with assumptions of knowledge, some of which I did not know. One of the first things talked about is what is race. He talked about how it is a social construction. Honestly, much of this talk was perhaps over my head. He mentioned that this is a very high level class in African American studies, and because I had not had much experience in this topic, I did not understand a lot of it. He touched on slavery and on some key players in the ultimate freedom of African Americans. He also talked about ideological trends for African Americans such as Black Marxism, Nationalism and Feminism. He then went on to talk about things that are happening now. I found these most useful. He mentioned the million-man march, debates over sexuality and gender, coalitions of politics, problems of poverty, and the growing black middle class as current topics. Overall, this lecture did not do too much for me, because I think I am missing a lot of the foundation that is needed to go to the level that he was teaching at. It did, however, open my eyes to a different way of looking at things, having the focus be on African Americans and their role in our society. That in itself was beneficial and I think made this lecture worthwhile for me.

c. Watch the movie, Do the Right Thing by Spike Lee So I had Google searched most influential African American movies, and this was on everyones list of top choices. I wasnt really sure what to expect, but I knew that Spike Lee generally makes pretty entertaining yet thought-provoking films, so I decided upon Do the Right Thing. Again, I went into watching this with no expectations or any idea of where the story would head. Right away I knew it was a good choice as the premise was soon clear that it was about a black

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neighborhood in New York in times when racism was still very prevalent. As evidenced by my list of what I think I know, I am not very knowledgeable about African American history and what their lives looked like, so this was very beneficial. Basically, the story revolves around a black man probably in his 20s, who works at a pizza place. The restaurant is owned and operated by an Italian family that has been there for years. Other than them, the neighborhood is entirely black, aside from one Asian family. The story shows the black mans life and lifestyle and his conflict between working for the white man, and following some of the radical views of his peers toward social justice. There is definitely a tension between the two races throughout the whole movie. The start of the problems comes when one of the black men comments on how there are no African Americans on the pizzerias wall of fame. The owner refuses to add any, which leads that man to start a boycott. He ends up gathering another black man to join him in this quest. The climax of the film comes as these two barge into the restaurant where the main character is there with the employees and also his other black friends. The two radicals demand pictures added to the wall and the owner refuses, leading to a highly offensive screaming match. This peaks as the owner smashes one of the black mans radio, starting an all out brawl in front of the shop. All of the local African Americans either jump in or cheer on the radical men in their fight. When the police, who are white, show up, they pull the black men off of the owner. In doing so, they choke one of the black men. One police officer says to stop, but another officer keeps choking him, ultimately killing him. After this, the police leave and the local African Americans light the restaurant on fire and loot it. When the fire department shows up, the locals confront them with violence as well. Ultimately the firemen shoot them with their fire hoses. The movie ends with a scene where the original main character talks to the owner, because he wants his paycheck, showing that he only cared about the money and not the social justice behind the

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whole story. There is no real resolution between the races at all, only a dead black man and a burned down restaurant. There are a few different things that I took away from this movie. For one thing, my eyes were opened to just how tense and confrontational difference between races were in those times. It makes me question if there are still people that are that same way today, and Im sure there are. Also, it showed me that many African Americans did work very hard; they simply werent afforded the same opportunities as many white people were. Overall, I would say it was definitely a beneficial movie for me to see because I feel much more familiar with a bit of the history of African Americans in America. On a side note, I really felt a strong sense of learning that violence is really not an answer for social justice. They took a much more Malcolm X approach and ultimately got nowhere at all. This saddens me that in this movie a life was taken in vain. It is both sides at fault too. The African Americans were very confrontational, going as far as fighting firefighters who were simply trying to stop a fire. I think that this just shows that violence is not helpful in these situations. Like the quote says, an eye for an eye will make the whole world go blind.

d. Attend an African American church service I attended a church called Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church in Downtown Phoenix, Arizona on December 30th. I was able to fit this trip into my winter break and being at home, so I convinced my mom to go with me. We decided upon this church in particular because one of our very close family friends, who is a teacher at Arizona Christian, had told us about this church because his former student is the pastor. I wasnt sure what to expect from this church at all. I didnt know what kind of size, style, environment or anything there would be. All I knew is that

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it is a predominantly African American church and that we would probably be a small minority as white people. When we got there I was shocked by how massive the church was. It was a huge campus and the buildings were beautiful. We walked into the chapel and it was huge. There were very large pews that could seat what we estimated to be about 800 people. As we walked in there was a keyboard playing and a woman speaking/praying very passionately in the front. This was different than what I am accustomed to and set the tone for how the rest of the service would go. As I expected, we were the only white people in the building. Eventually a couple more families came in, but there were only maybe 10 white people out of nearly 800 people. It was pretty cool to be the significant minority for a change. I found that initially I felt a little bit awkward, not necessarily because I was uncomfortable with African American people, but instead because I just felt like an outsider. The people that I interacted with were very welcoming, though, and I soon forgot that I wasnt like everyone else. Much of the sermon involved touching your neighbor and being intentional, and the people around me didnt hesitate to include us as they would anyone else. They had an 80-person choir and the music was definitely what you would stereotypically match with a black Baptist church. I loved it! The music was soulful and full of passion. I found myself swaying and clapping and shouting with everyone else. It was a very unifying experience. It reminded me of my talk with Ed Barron about how when you have a common goal or cause, often racial differences seem smaller. Because we were all focused on God and worship, the deeper into the service we went, the less I was aware that I wasnt like everyone else. It was a reminder that race doesnt need to be a factor in how you welcome people and are open to them. Overall, my experience was definitely worthwhile. I really enjoyed the service from a church standpoint, as I was able to be a part of a different type of worship than I usually would have. Also, having a chance to be the minority was eye opening and gave me

UNDERSTANDING AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS some insight to how African Americans must feel in environments where whites are the majority. I think that I will be able to apply some of the feelings and perspectives that I

experienced on this visit and hopefully I can use them to be more sensitive toward all minorities.

Objective 2: Research the African American culture

a. Read Instructing and Mentoring the African American College Student by Louis B. Gallien, Jr. and Marshalita Sims Peterson. This book, as a whole, was much easier to read and comprehend than the lecture I viewed in my first objective. This book was written as more of a textbook, so just like Sharyn commented on my last one, it did end up being much more effective for me. It covered a very broad range of topics and I will very briefly summarize the main points that I appreciated. The second chapter is called Maximizing Student Success. I think that part of our responsibility as student affairs professionals is to maximize the success for all students. They touched on things such as campus climate, student involvement, academic support and more. They then talked about something called The Coupled Model (Gallien & Peterson, 2005). This model involves using familiar contexts of black students heritage and comfort zones and the issues that face them. The key of the coupled model is that for it to maximize the success of students, there needs to be campus wide strategies and a holistic approach. This just reiterated to me the idea that collaboration really is important for making any sort of impact on a college campus. The book then went on to show some successful strategies that have worked before. Some of these were connecting to the college mission, appreciation for diversity, faculty/student engagement, mentorship support structures, external resources support, and peer mentorship (Gallien & Peterson, 2005). I agree that each of those things would be positive to being to a university in

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order to provide the best experience for students. It then goes on to talk about communication and how important it is to successfully communicate when working with diverse topics. The book provided useful strategies for communication and pointed out things such as nonverbal communication and stereotype threat, which is the threat of being viewed the lens of a negative stereotype or doing something that would confirm the stereotype (Gallien & Peterson, 2005). Some other strategies mentioned were interactive/participatory approaches, communal approaches, paraphrasing and repeating, and listening. I think that listening sticks out to me as the most important. Based upon what I have learned so far from this class and in particular from our guest speakers, listening is one of the biggest ways to help students. They want to be heard and they want someone to hear what they have to say. Later in the book, the focus changes a little bit more to how to teach African American students, which is a little less relevant to me, but still important to know. They talk about using black cultural learning styles including spirituality, harmony, movement, verve, affect, communalism, individualism, and social perspective, while showing ways to actually incorporate these strategies (Gallien & Peterson, 2005). These all seem like they would be extremely beneficial to use in my interaction with African American students. The last thing that I want to talk about from the book is a section where they talk about developing the whole person. This includes learning and growing in the classroom, but also outside of the classroom. This idea is something that I already feel very familiar with, as we have had many discussions about holistic development in other classes. I think that striving for holistic development is the best way for us to approach students in order to give them the best chance at success as individuals. I think that this applies to any student, not just to African American students. However, it is important to remember the whole African American student, and be aware that there is much more to each student than what meets the surface, including a very

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unique history and culture. Overall, this book gave me some tips on how to work with African American students, and students as a whole. I think that it was definitely worthwhile to read and I hope that I am able to apply what I have learned into my future career.

b. Read the article, Creating a Culturally Responsive Learning Environment for African American Students This article, by Mary F. Howard-Hamilton, discusses how to create an environment that is inclusive and supportive for different cultures. This means including life experiences of diverse groups, instead of leaving them out, to allow students to gain understandings of different perspectives. It touches on different theories (Sharyn you would love it!) that apply to students in regards to racial identity. Ultimately, she stresses that in order to understand an African American student; you have to take time to learn who they are and what they believe in. The first racial identity that is mentioned is the Minority Identity Development model by Atkinson, Morten, and Sue (Howard-Hamilton, 2003). This theory includes five stages for racial identity development. The first stage is conformity, where the person keeps internal attitudes reflecting preferences for the dominant race and negativity for their own race. Dissonance is the second stage, where there is often racial and cultural confusion. The third stage, resistance, includes rejection of dominant culture and an embrace of their culture. Fourth is introspection, where reflections on values of different cultures are evaluated. Lastly, there is awareness, where the individual has self-fulfillment after the confusion is resolved. She then goes on to talk about two other theories, Nigrescence by Cross, and the White Racial Identity Ego Statuses Model by Helms and Cook. The Nigrescence model has five stages, starting with pre-encounter, where the student will identify with the dominant culture and reject

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their African American culture (Howard-Hamilton, 2003). The second stage, encounter, is where the student becomes conscious of their African American status based upon a traumatic encounter. The third stage, immersion-emersion, is where the student starts to gain interest and begins to learn more about the African American culture. The next stage, internalization, is where the student possesses a strong African American identity and transcends the impact of racism, putting much of the weight on themselves. The final stage is internalization-commitment, where the student is empowered in their African American identity, while resisting social oppression. The next theory, White Racial Identity Ego Statuses, has seven stages (HowardHamilton, 2003). Contact and disintegration are the first two, where there is contentment with how things are, leading to confusion when having to take sides between their group and humanism, in disintegration. The third stage, reintegration, is where there are prejudices towards other groups and a lack of commitment to make change. The next step, pseudo-independence, is where there starts to be an opening and tolerance to other groups as long as it fits with their own standards. Immersion, the next step, leads people to seek a new definition of being white and creates a desire for accurate information. The sixth step, emersion, involves being with other white people who are also seeking new knowledge in this topic. The final step, autonomy, is where there is a commitment to preventing racial oppression. Ultimately I think we would all like to end up in the final step, as allies and advocates for social justice. The article finishes by talking about ways to have effective dialogue and teaching practices. These were not as pertinent to me, but were still worth reading. Overall, this article was very beneficial to read and I think that I can use it in the future. We had already touched on the theories of racial identity development, but it is never a bad thing to be refreshed as I had already forgotten much of their content.

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c. Set up a meeting with Ed Barron to ask what he thinks are major issues facing African American students at APU. I set up a meeting with Ed Barron, who is the director of the Multi Ethnic Programs office at APU on December 17th. I met him in his office and had a really nice discussion about what it means to be an African American student and what issues are that they are facing. I tried to frantically write down everything he was saying but some of it I cant read and other things I wasnt quick enough to write. But I did get a lot of great information and I felt much more confident about myself and my role as a student affairs professional after talking to him. Basically I asked him a few questions and let him elaborate on them. The first question I asked was what issues he faced in his life as an African American student. He said that during his schooling time there was still a strong black pride movement taking place. With that, there was a very clear coalition for black students and their Black Student Union, as any black student felt called to the group to fight for a common cause. This provided him with a very welcoming environment as a student. He also mentioned that in his time, there was much more similarities between black students as most of them were in the lower economic class, barely out of poverty. Now, however, there is less commonality amongst black students that keeps them from banding together. Next I asked him about what issues there are facing African American students at APU. He again mentioned the wider spectrum of socio-economic classes that can make things harder for students to find common causes. He asked are we aware of the effect and impact of a diverse experience and said we should be intentional in developing things that make us unique, as we each have our own backgrounds that shape us. He mentioned that APU is very progressive, but

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there is still more that needs to be done. He said we need students to immerse themselves in diverse experiences so that they can actually understand it, because simply talking about it only tends to frustrate people. He did say that they are working on this idea here at APU, as they had a special all day training for their student leaders this year that focused on diversity. Instead of just talking about it, they had the students participate in a privilege walk and a fishbowl activity. Both activities were chosen to try and immerse the students into the experience, and Ed said that they received very positive reviews from both. He said that usually students just accept that they dont have to see diversity and privilege, but with activities like these, they are forced to see it. I then asked what I could do, as a white male, to be an ally and advocate for black students. He told me that people didnt ask for privilege, but that we need to embrace it. As a white person, I do have white privilege, so instead of dwelling in guilt or any feelings like that, I should use it to help others and to try and end discrimination. For example, I think that since one part of white privilege is often having more ability to go to college, I think it is beneficial for me to be learning about diversity and learning how to become an advocate. This way, I am embracing my privilege and using it to help others. He also talked about stewardship, which means taking care of something that belongs to someone else. He said that I should learn to steward my privilege for the better of others. He said that I should try to immerse myself in trying to understand other peoples experiences and build relationships with other people. One thing he said that stuck out is that the best voice to white privilege is the white privilege community, meaning that if I want to make a change, this is probably where I should start. I went on to ask about his philosophy and he said that he is all about personal transformation and awareness. He thinks that this is an inside out process and that we should focus on one student at a time. He talked about how we should all figure out who we are in Christ, which can help us

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decide our values and our calling. He said we all want to matter, and that to cure this, we must discover whom we are in Christ and from there, the right cause will find us. He talked about how God tells us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. He focused on the love ourselves part and talked about how we really need to learn to understand and love ourselves, and then we can love others in the same way. Another thing he said was that we should not just include devotions in our life, but we should live devoted without exception. He talked a lot about how important perspective is and how powerful it can be. The last thing that I will mention that I learned from him has to do with finding a common cause. When we were talking, I mentioned how I had many friends who are black, and that my high school basketball team has black students, yet I never found race to really be an issue. He told me that the reason for this was because we had a common cause. We were a team and we had the same goal: win games. We built deep relationships based upon this goal and we saw more than race. I think that this is really important and something that can be really applicable to student affairs. We need to find common causes that can unite the students, instead of leaving them separated by race. I dont know what the answer is to what type of causes these are, but I am now feeling very aware that they are needed. Overall, this meeting was EXTREMELY beneficial. In fact, I told Ed that I would probably be coming in to talk to him again, even without having to from class. I felt so much more comfortable after talking to him. I felt better about where I currently stand and what I would like to do in the future. I learned a lot and had my perspective changed. I think I am the type of person who learns better from conversations and relationships that from books, so this was very useful for me. I think that I am now much more prepared to work with African American students, and diverse students as a whole. I am very glad that I chose to meet with Ed

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Barron for this part of my action plan. I really do think that this meeting alone made the entire project more than worthwhile.

Objective 3: Develop skills to use the awareness and knowledge to benefit African American students

a.

Talk with African American students about how they have been influenced by their race.

For this part of my action plan, I was very excited. After having such a powerful talk with Ed Barron in the last portion of my action plan, I was looking forward to having another good conversation, this time with a student. I asked one of the Alpha Coordinators from my office if I could meet with him and ask him a few questions. He is an African American. I have a pretty solid relationship with him, so I decided to ask him so that he would feel comfortable to fully open up to me and not just think I am a stranger who is interviewing him because he is black. We met in my office and luckily no one else was in the room, so we were able to just focus on each other and our conversation. So the first broad, open-ended question that I posed to the student was asking him how he felt he has been influenced by being an African American so far in his life. He started out by talking about how he doesnt have the typical African American story and upbringing. He said that he grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood and attended a majorly white school growing up. Although one might think that he wouldnt have as valuable of an opinion towards the topic of diversity and African American culture, I would disagree. He still had to endure discrimination in many ways throughout his life. He said that growing up he faced a different kind of harassment. He was teased a lot by his black friends, not as much by his

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white peers. They would make fun of him for being a white black person, because he talked more like a white person and was spending his time in a white neighborhood and school. It is sad to me that in this situation he was harassed for not being black enough. I think that comments like these show that there is ignorance on both sides of the spectrum. Yes, there is a lot of ignorance from the white population in our society, but this shows that there is also some ignorance from the minorities themselves. If someone like this student is pressured to continue to be what they consider to be black, and is not allowed to move beyond that, then how are we ever going to move towards equality? He also mentioned that he was often ridiculed for liking white girls. This again shows me racism but instead of being from the white majority, this is racism from the minority. He then went on to talk about how most of what he has been bothered by in his life, racially, has been in the form of jokes. I used quotations because many times racial jokes really arent jokes, but instead are just cruel stereotypical remarks that people laugh about. He said that he has always had to face racial jokes and that although he is not a very sensitive person, they can still hurt. He mentioned that he is very secure in who he is as a person, but that he is still forced to think about the fact that he is an African American. Often times, especially in places like college, he said that he will be one of few black people, and even though someone can try to ignore it, it is something that is there. He then talked a little deeper about his comments towards liking white women. He said that not only has he been teased for that, but that he legitimately stresses about it because he is not sure what his family reaction will be if he ends up bringing home a white woman one day instead of a black woman. It is so unfair that someone should not be given the full right to choose how he wants to run his life, but instead has things dictated by others. Lastly, he talked about how for most of his life he has been a black man in a white neighborhood. This singles him out as a black person, often meaning that he is the local

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expert on being black. I see how that could be hurtful, even in this situation where I am working on a multicultural project and interviewing him for that purpose. I have good intentions and plan to use this information to benefit future African American students, and myself yet I suppose I am also using him as the token black student. It is definitely an interesting thought. He also said that he has to always be conscious of cops and what he is doing, since he is usually the only black person. It is such a shame to me that in this day and age, he would still have to be worried about something like that. Overall, it was very beneficial and interesting to hear how he has been affected by his own ethnicity throughout his life thus far. The next student that I interviewed was again a student that I have worked with before. She worked in my office in the fall, allowing us to develop a relationship that made a conversation like this very comfortable. She did not open up as much as the first student, however, she was very willing to help with this project and with my learning. This student is an African American female. I again started the interview by asking her how her life has been influenced by her race. She, as did the first student I interviewed, had spent much of her life in a predominantly white population. She attended an all white elementary school, leaving her often wondering why she was different than everyone else. This is a common thought for minorities when they are not very well represented in populations. She talked about how she was very involved in many different things, which allowed her to be with and interact with many different kinds of people. This proved to be beneficial for her in her development, as her high school was different than her elementary school. Her high school had a much more diverse population than she had previously experience. She enjoyed this change and it ultimately changed her worldview. This worldview change is something that she found valuable and that I think is something everyone should experience. To see things in a different light allows us to see other peoples

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experiences in a unique way that gives credit to their uniqueness. I love hearing how these students have developed their current perspectives and it inspires me to try to help other students develop in the same way.

b. Talk with African American students to see what they would like to see changed at APU. For the first part of this step, I continued to talk to the first student. To preface asking him what he would like to see changed at APU, I first asked him what his experience has been like as an African American student at APU. He started by talking about how he felt initially his freshman year when he showed up as an incoming student. He said that he was shocked by how few people of color there were on campus. This made him question if he was in the right place and caused him to be nervous. Luckily for this student, he said that his RA was of color and reached out to him. He said that this was a very big thing for him and gave him much more confidence in being at APU. He said that having some common ground made it easier to relate and feel comfortable with each other. I remember guest presenters from the MEP office talking about how they feel more comfortable with members of their own ethnicity as well. This all makes me feel a little discouraged because I feel like I am not going to be able to be a primary resource for students if I am not of the same race as them. I know that I will still be able to help these students, but I hope that I can be a direct resource for them, even if I am not the same color. He then went on to talk about how many of the African American population on campus are athletes. He said it sometimes is awkward and people just assume that all black students play a sport. He said that on multiple occasions people have asked him what sport he plays. He then talked again about the jokes that people make and how they dont realize how hurtful they can

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actually be. He also talked about how sometimes he feels like he cant really connect with other black students on campus. This has to do with the fact that again, many of this population are either student athletes or are black students who are involved in BSA or MEP, but also that the majority of the rest of the black students are involved in BSA or MEP. He mentioned that he often disagrees with the MEP office. He believes that the MEP students are often cult-like and stick together and are arrogant in the way they talk. He doesnt like that, and doesnt like that they seem to always have a chip on their shoulder. He finished talking about his experiences at APU by talking about when he attended graduation. He noticed how few black students there were and said that it inspired him to graduate. He said that he wants to graduate with honors, so that he can set an example and a standard for other black students that they can be just as successful in their studies. From there, I asked him what he would like to see changed at APU. He again mentioned his distaste for the MEP office and talked about how he would like to see a character change for the office. He likes the overall idea and purpose of the office, but doesnt like the way that the MEP student leaders go about their work. He then talked about doing more diversity awareness. He mentioned that instead of having a diversity week, it could be beneficial to have a diversity month or something longer. This should be something more authentic where they do more to emphasize different ethnicities. This could include performances from different ethnic groups, but would also include times when students can talk to the performers. He then talked about how he loved the Everyone Matters initiative and pressed that anything similar to that would be great. He went on to say that he would like to see a chapel dedicated to diversity. However instead of having Ed Barron speak, as he usually would at anything diversity related, maybe just have students speak. We talked about having students from different ethnic backgrounds each

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tell their story. By having it be student focused, people might pay closer attention instead of just looking at it as another diversity talk. Another thing that he mentioned at the end of the interview wasnt really about changing APU, other than just changing peoples perspectives. He talked about how for many African Americans, the trend in their community is to get a job right away, do drugs, get pregnant, or go to jail. He said that many people just dont understand that and dont understand some of the issues that students face in getting away from that life and that trend. With my second student, I again continued the conversation by asking how her experience has been at APU. She said that for her, it has not been uncomfortable being an African American at APU. This could be because of her experience with diversity in high school and in her involvement previously. She did say, however, that it is interesting to see how some people do experience a culture shock at APU because they havent had those same diverse experiences. Being that there are not very many African American students, it is understandable that some students may experience a culture shock when they realize how much of a minority they really are on this campus. She then talked about how she doesnt feel that she is necessarily colorblind when it comes to working with students of other ethnicities. She sees the significance of race, but does not let that be the dominant theme in her interactions with them. She makes the individual people the priority, and allows their ethnicities to be important, just not the driving force of who someone is. I completely agree with her and I am impressed by how mature she is for being a junior in college. I then asked her if she felt that there is racism on campus here at APU. She said that there is some racism, but that prejudice definitely is present. She recognizes that in general, Christians are very commonly white and upper class. Therefore, at a Christian school, it is understandable to see a white majority. With that being said, she again mentioned

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the culture shock that can happen for students and said that there is some unintentional racism. By this, she implied that there is some innate racism with so many white students and so few minorities, however it is not necessarily because of hatred or dislike for different races, but instead is an unintended consequence of the unbalanced demographics. This racism is caused much more by ignorance than it is by harsh intentions. At this point I then asked the student what she would like to see changed at APU. She gave the school some credit, saying that she feels like the school is making a respectable effort. She followed that statement by saying that she sometimes doesnt necessarily agree with their tactics. She said she would like to see more unspoken action, instead of just more diversity talks. Actions often speak louder than words, and in this situation we agreed that actions would send a strong message to students. Lastly, she reiterated that she does feel that the school is moving in the right direction and that she thinks they are definitely making an effort. Overall, I found my talks with these students to be extremely rewarding in that I feel like I have a much better understanding of what African American students go through, particularly at APU.

c. Talk to student from a different minority group about how they have been influenced by their race and how that has translated to APU. For this portion of the action plan, I had thought about interviewing another African American student about their life and how their race had been a factor. After thinking about it, I decided to take a different route. Even though this whole project is very small scale, I thought it would be interesting to get a bigger picture view. I thought it would be beneficial to interview another minority student, of a different ethnicity than African American. This would give me a

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sense of knowing whether the issues talked about in my other interviews are unique to African American students, or if they are something that influences all minorities. With that being said, I decided to ask very similar interview questions to a Hispanic student that works in my office. The first question again was how has race influenced her life. She did not elaborate too much, but said that race really hasnt been a huge factor in her life. She said that one of the main issues that she does face, is that many times people will assume that she speaks Spanish because she is Mexican. She said that sometimes people will just start talking to her in Spanish and that she has no idea what they are saying because she does not speak the language. That is really the extent of how she has felt influenced by her race growing up. I then asked her how her experiences have been at APU. She said that she had gone to schools that were predominately Hispanics, so she had never really paid attention to race in this setting before. However, now that she is at APU where Hispanics are not as well represented, she said that she has felt a little bit out of place, culturally. This makes sense, since the campus is made up of a majority of white students. I then sort of bluntly asked her if she felt that there was racism at APU or if she feels that the school is racist. She said that she doesnt think the school is racist, but she wonders why there are so many more white students. I didnt attempt to try and answer this question because there are a number of potential reasons for this and I am in no position to speak on behalf of the institution. Lastly, I asked the student what she would like to see changed at APU in regards to ethnicity and minorities. She said that she really enjoys that there are different campus organizations that reach out to specific races and ethnicities. However, she wishes that there were a way that the school could bring all of the students and groups together for something other than race. She said that she doesnt necessarily like that they are all categorized as different races through this, and wants other ways to unite the campus. She did say that she enjoyed the all day diversity training on

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campus because it forced students to immerse themselves in their privileges and see other peoples diversity. This is constant with the conversation that I had with Ed Barron, where he said that in order for students to understand diversity, they must be immersed in other peoples stories. I think this is so true and it was interesting to hear that from a student as well. Overall, I felt like this interview was beneficial to get a feel for issues of a different minority group. It showed me that there are some commonalities in what minorities go through in life and at APU, but also that there are some issues that are specific to individual ethnicities. I think getting this additional perspective was very valuable to my growth.

d. Talk to my supervisor about his background in working with African American students For this portion of my action plan, I talked to one of my supervisors, Phil Brazell. He is the assistant director in the Office of Orientation and Transitions. I had spoken to him casually about this topic at the beginning of this course, as I was starting to question what my initial thoughts had been on diversity and privilege. Having had that conversation before, I felt like this would be a very comfortable conversation to have with him now. Basically I just asked him two questions and let him elaborate on them. The first question that I asked him was simply what has his experience been with African American students. He started by talking about how he went to APU, so he experienced much of what students see and have been through. More specifically he talked about his relationship with Ed Barrons daughter. She was one of his good friends his entire time at APU. He said that the main thing he learned during his undergraduate experience was that people have different perspectives and experiences. He talked about how he loved his time at APU and how it was absolutely perfect for him. Early on in his time here, he saw things

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just from his view and his own perspective. As his friendship grew with his African American friend, he saw that she wasnt necessarily having the same experience as he was. Even though they had the same classes and both were heavily involved in leadership, she did not have the same wonderful experience. He said that over time he started to realize that people could have differences like that, even if they approach life the same way. From there, he started to see things differently and continued to do so as he transitioned from student to staff. He said that he now realizes that he cant simply try to recreate his great experiences for everyone to share, but he has to recognize and be aware that people have differences. He said that this doesnt necessarily mean that he now treats African Americans or any other minorities differently; he just focuses on treating everyone he comes into contact with very intentionally. We have to question our events and planning to make sure we are being inclusive. An example is that his friend wouldnt participate in water activities because it had negative effects on her hair. I would never have even thought of this, but it just shows that we really need to think of everyone. The next question I asked him to finish our talk was simply if he had any advice for me as an up and coming student affairs professional. He talked about the importance of diversity education and building our own awareness. He said that the key is to have a posture to learn and to continue learning. He said that I should strive to learn through others experiences and their stories. I agree with this, and this project has showed me how valuable conversations can be in building this awareness. He talked about an event that they did during his time at APU called A Day In The Life where students of different ethnicities would write a monologue of their typical days and then someone of a different ethnicity would read it out loud. I think that this sounds really cool and adds to the idea that we need to focus on individuals and try to understand their experiences. Really, it all comes down to being intentional and treating each student as a unique

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individual. I think I can learn a lot from watching how the people in my office interact with minorities.

e. Look back on my first list of what I knew about African American culture, and reflect on how much I have grown and in which ways I can use my knew knowledge to benefit students. After looking back on my initial list of what I thought African American culture was and what African American students go through, I am feeling a little embarrassed, but also very glad that I was able to grow as much as I have. Here are a few of the things that I have learned about this group of individuals. African Americans have a history of pain and oppression that is not as far behind us as one might think. There is still much hate towards them in this country and in certain ways they are still definitely oppressed. The idea of seeing everyone as the same and being colorblind is really an injustice to African Americans. They have such a rich culture and heritage. I experienced this firsthand through seeing how they worshipped. I was moved by their passion and openness to me as an outsider. It would be horrible to take their culture away from them by just making everyone the same. I learned that so much of diversity comes down to perspective. In pretty much every conversation that I had, the word perspective came up. If we only see things how we want to see them, or in ways that we think are right, then we will never be able to understand others and become more tolerant to differences.

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I learned that there is still an unfortunate amount of racism that takes place even at APU. After speaking to a student, I realized that even though it is mostly done in fun, there are many jokes and harassing comments made. This saddens me and shows that there is still much work to be done by student affairs professionals to make a more welcoming environment for minorities.

I also learned that the best way to understand other people is to talk to them. As simple as it sounds, having intentional conversations is such a great way to understand other peoples stories and experiences. We cannot grow in our diversity awareness without immersing ourselves in other peoples stories.

Overall, this project was EXTREMELY beneficial for me. I cannot say enough how much I feel like I have grown through this. I feel so much more confident in myself and my ability to be an ally for not only African American students, but for any students. I hope to not let this project end when I turn it in, but instead that I will keep this as a way that I view the world and will continue to ask questions and have conversations to grow in my awareness of diversity.

Additional Questions:

If you were preparing Stage II of your action plan, what would you identify that you need to do next? There are a few things that I would like to do next if I were to continue this action plan. The first thing that I would like to do, is build off of something that I already started. After interviewing the Hispanic student to get her thoughts on race and how it affects students lives, I realized I would like to do more interviews. First, I would continue to interview more African American students about how they have been affected by race in their life. I would like to interview these

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students from APU so I can really come up with a really solid idea of what I can do to help on campus. From there, I would also like to continue interviewing different minority individuals at APU. I think that this would be very beneficial in understanding what minority students face on campus. Additionally, this would give me a deeper feel for which issues are unique to certain ethnicities. I think that this would allow me to open up my mind to more than just the African American population and would broaden my ability to be an ally for minority students on APUs campus. Another thing that I would really like to do is continue my work on different institutions. After looking deeper at APUs campus as mentioned, I would like to spread my study to other schools. I know that diversity was not very prevalent at my undergraduate, Concordia University Irvine, and I would like to do some research there. While I was there, I was not as knowledgeable as I am now, and I was full of ignorance. I would like to repeat this research on Concordias campus so that I could see what the diversity culture is there, now that I have a new perspective. I think that ideally it would be great to repeat this study on as many campuses as possible, so that I could start to make generalizations about minority students in college. I think that in this research I would like to add a survey or some form of quantitative data so that I could analyze as much data about these students as possible. I would like to send this survey to as many students in as many schools as possible to get significant data that I can use to help others in understanding what these students go through. Discuss your experiences in terms of implications for multiculturalism in higher education and student affairs. I think that based upon my research I have learned a tremendous amount and I think that I would be able to translate that knowledge into benefits for students. One of the most important

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things that I have learned and that I will definitely use in working with students, is simply to treat every student as the unique individual that he/she is. Between all of my research and my conversations with students and staff members, one of the common themes was treating students intentionally and uniquely. I would like to think that I already treat students that way, but I think I can always improve upon this. I think that before this project I was somewhat guilty of trying to be colorblind and see everyone as equals. This sounded like a good way to avoid any prejudice, but I realized throughout this process that by seeing everyone as the same, I would be taking away everyones culture and background and experiences that have made them who they are. Even just from interviewing students who I thought I knew pretty well, I realized that there is always so much more to people that resides under the surface. Everyone has a story. That is perhaps the biggest theme that I have come to realize. As a student affairs professional, and even just as a human being, I think it is my duty to get to know people intentionally and listen to their stories. I think that moving forward, I will be very intentional in listening to students and hoping to hear their stories about their lives and what has made them who they are. One of the other themes of this project that I have discovered, is that both staff and students would like to see a way for students to come together and immerse themselves in different perspectives of different ethnicities. In my student interviews, they all mentioned that sometimes if diversity talks are initiated by staff members, then students see it as more of a lecture than as a way of getting to understand each other. I think that there needs to be more student initiatives in regards to diversity. One idea that is based off of what my supervisor talked about is having an event where students get to be in charge and get the chance to speak. I think that with a program like this, it would provide an open forum for students of all ethnicities to speak out and express themselves. I would like for every ethnicity on campus to be represented

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in this event. This includes white students, who can often feel like they are not spoken for in regards to diversity topics. This event would perhaps be something where a representative from each group could have something prepared to say and would instead by read by someone of a different ethnicity. We would go around and hear everyones different stories and experiences. I would ask very similar questions to the ones that I asked in my interviews, so that people would be able to see that there are issues on this campus. I would say that much of the campus doesnt even know that these issues exist and are instead ignorant to the differences that students have. I think that this event would be a way to raise awareness for difference on campus and would be a way for minorities to feel that they are being heard. I think that these ideas could definitely be implemented within the college setting by student affairs professionals. I know that I am going to use what I have learned in this project to benefit students that I come into contact with. I think that using the skills that I have developed and potentially creating an event such as the one I previously mentioned, would be great ways to benefit students and create an awareness on college campuses. Overall, I plan on living out this project in any way that I can so that I can hopefully end ignorance and bring students together while respecting that they are diverse and unique individuals.

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References:

Gallien, L. B., & Peterson, M. (2005). Instructing and mentoring the african american college student: Strategies for success in higher education. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Howard-Hamilton, M. F. (2000). Creating a Culturally Responsive Learning Environment for African American Students. New Directions For Teaching & Learning, (82), 45.

Lee, S. (Producer, Director). (1989). Do the right thing [ Motion picture]. United States: Universal Pictures.

Sawyer, M. (Performer) (n.d.). African american studies: Lecture 1. Learners tv. [Video podcast]. Retrieved from http://www.learnerstv.com/video/Free-video-Lecture-13306Political-Science.htm