Exposure is crucial to a complete education. It is the gateway to worlds otherwise unknown. University is often the first step to the real world, a person’s bridge between youth and adulthood. It is a time of vulnerability, self-discovery, and independence.
Universities acknowledge the importance of diversity by attempting to curate diverse classes, promoting inclusive and diverse services, and the use of affirmative action. Though the usage of race-conscious college admissions has been outlawed, it has been attempted to be used as a device to create diverse classes due to racial inequalities for over 50 years.
Race relations, from what I have observed, are very rigid on college campuses. University friendships are often homogeneous which is a result of homophily. Homophily is a sociological concept that states that people are more likely to associate with people similar to themselves. This is normal as people have an innate desire to feel a sense of belonging amongst their peers, which is easy to accomplish with people similar to themselves.
For a lot of underrepresented groups, especially black students, this is due to the lack of exposure during our primary education. As someone who grew up in a predominantly white area, I was in search of more peers similar to me. I gravitated towards diverse and inclusive spaces such as cultural centers or cultural organizations. I created more connections with people who were similar to me. I frequented spaces that felt safe. These safe spaces are essential to students, especially incoming freshmen who are in search of a community. These spaces exist to provide a sense of belonging for marginalized communities. They provide comfort, appreciation, and a space to discuss shared hardship. Safe spaces are an essential part of college campuses, as they have created an outlet for marginalized communities.
Safe Spaces, a haven for souls in search of community, cannot be our only spaces. The overreliance on these spaces creates its own set of problems. Although these spaces create community and act as a place for affirmation, they can also act as echo chambers that promote groupthink. Groupthink, a term coined by psychologist Irving Jenis, is “a deterioration of mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment that results from in-group pressures”. People tend to underperform in large groups of people and begin to pressure themselves to align with the ideas of the larger group at hand.
These spaces do not always promote the critical thinking that is necessary to promote and spark change. Critical thinking requires thorough analysis and contemplation. It requires us to sit in discomfort. This is not the University’s task, this is a task that we the people must do.
In the study Is Diversity Ever Enough, a study by the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, a group of social and personality psychologists analyzed the frequency, experience, and result of cross-race and cross-class interactions in colleges. It was a longitudinal study documented through journal entries. In this study, they found that students have fewer cross-race and cross-class interactions that could occur by chance. Essentially, students interacted with differing races far less than statistically possible.
The initial experience of the students in these cross-race interactions was uncomfortable. These interactions were noted to be less intimate and less positive. For underrepresented students (defined as Black, Native, and Latinx people in this study*) crossing the race barrier was an especially stressful event. The long-term result of these cross-race interactions was a deeper sense of belonging among their peers. This demonstrates the importance of discomfort. This discomfort can create tolerance and understanding between racial groups.
Race is not the only factor that differentiates us. Class, nationality, sexuality, and many other factors go into shaping our experiences. These differing experiences craft our own stories. I believe everyone deserves to have their stories told. I believe everyone deserves to have their ideas shared. But I am also aware that sometimes, certain voices find themselves overlooked. We must highlight these voices because voices that are silenced are often the voices that need to be heard.
From this I have learned that we cannot simply be in proximity to each other, we must actively choose to hear each other.
For us to truly know each other, we must invest in learning about each other as much as we learn about ourselves. As students, we must take the time to fully investigate the differing perspectives exposure has to offer us. This means being an active part of the conversation: whether it is comfortable or not.
Elevate Magazine acts to strengthen an understanding of one another. We want to provide an outlet, a hub, and a safe space for diverse and creative thinking. Here, we do not censor ourselves, we do not perform for anyone, we appear rough around the edges and color outside the lines.
This is a place for creatives.
It is a place for thinkers.
At Elevate, authenticity is the highest good.
*This study describes Black, Native, and Latinx people as URM (underrepresented racial minority students). This distinction does not include Asian students because they consider Asian people to be a racial minority with higher education status. This however does not take into account the wide range of diversity in the Asian community. I am well aware that there are groups in the Asian community that are underrepresented.
REFERENCES
Carey, R. M., Stephens, N. M., Townsend, S. S. M., & Hamedani, M. G. (2022). Supplemental material for Is diversity enough? cross-race and cross-class interactions in college occur less often than expected but benefit members of lower-status groups when they occur. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 123. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000302.supp
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