What does it mean to be a student of color in a predominantly white space? Most importantly, what is it like to be a student of color here at Le Moyne?
This is a pretty broad question to start off with, and one that not many people take the time to sit down and consider. Over the past few weeks, I spoke to a few different students and asked them to think about this overall question. I received a mix of responses.
Most students that I interviewed had a similar, often difficult experience. Destiny Jimenez, a senior here at Le Moyne, shared how uncomfortable the experience can be at times.
“I used to cry every night to my mom and want to go home because of how miserable Le Moyne would feel at times. Especially during my freshman year. It was a culture shock, nothing of which I was used to back home,” she said.
The culture shock was all too familiar. Similarly to Destiny, I grew up in Harlem. We were both used to very culturally diverse spaces. Our classrooms had students of all backgrounds, and we never looked at them any differently. It was the norm. We also had a number of different events celebrating these different backgrounds at school.
So coming to Le Moyne, things were very different. In recent weeks Le Moyne has hosted several events specifically for students of color. For instance, there was Vibranium nights, a spinoff of the Afro gala and “Dance history is Black History,” a Black history month dance show thrown by the dance minor students.
On Feb. 28, “Another Level” performed its first-ever dance show, “Melanin the Movement,” also as tribute to Black History month. In both dance shows we had a brief documentary series that senior Destiny Jimenez helped record and put together.
“I’m so happy you guys are doing this. During all of my four years here at Le Moyne this is probably the first time I’ve seen an intentional reflection of our experience at a PWI,” she said as we recorded the brief interviews for “Melanin the Movement.”
Yet another studen , freshman Rhiana Campbell, said, “Le Moyne has been a way better experience than my high school. I went to a predominantly white high school and I was one of a few black kids that attended the school. This is the first time I’ve ever had a community of students that look like me.”
Surprisingly Le Moyne provided her with that comfort of community with spaces such as Another Level, the multicultural dance team, that helps her express herself.
Overall, seeing familiar faces around campus makes the experience easier. And events such as the dance shows and the banquets and dinner help make students feel like they actually have a place on campus where they can be themselves.
