AU is a school that prides itself on its perceived diversity. Programs like the Center for Diversity and Inclusion have done a fantastic job of making sure our LGBTQ and international students always feel welcome, heard and safe on campus, but the voices of students belonging to racial minority groups all too often go unheard.
Although AU has thriving groups like the Black Student’s Alliance and Arab Student Association, these organizations have not yet been fully welcomed into the campus discussion. Last year’s ‘Being Black at AU’ campaign did not gain much attention from the campus community, and more recently, many black students attempted to start a campus-wide discussion of the events at Ferguson and were met with little support. AU is one of the only schools in the D.C. area that has not held a vigil or march, student or administration-led, to commemorate the death of Michael Brown.
“AU’s white students need to make a conscious and
deliberate effort to listen to the voices of their non-white classmates.”
The administration recently held two panel discussions on the events of Ferguson, but a panel is not a conversation. Conversations like these must happen among the entire school and must lead to further understanding on racial issues between students.
It is widely known that AU is not one of the most statistically diverse schools in the country, with a student population that is nearly 60 percent white and only about 6 percent black. Northwest D.C. overall is one of the least diverse sections of DC. But this is not an excuse.
AU’s white students need to make a conscious and deliberate effort to listen to the voices of their non-white classmates. They must push themselves to step out of their often homogeneous friend groups and gain perspective on these issues. These conversations must happen constantly, not just immediately after acts of violence like these. The only way AU can truly call itself a diverse school is by stepping out of its white bubble and listening to the voices of its minority students. -E
