Why does so much self-segregation exist on our racially diverse campus, from cafeteria seating to the SGA?

Why does so much self-segregation exist on our racially

 diverse campus, 

from cafeteria seating to the SGA? 
By  Imani Jackson, Deborah Forde, Patrick A. Bell

(Bobcat Stadium)

Identifying the problem: 

One of the most sensitive topics in today’s world is racism. There have been several occasions where racial profiling has ended up with violent outcomes.  In order to avoid these outcomes, segregation became a thing. Society  needs to take the step in being able to come together and say no to racism and it is important for us to identify that racism and segregation are two different things.  According to the Oxford Dictionary, segregation is defined as “the enforced separation of different racial groups in a country, community, or establishment.” Segregation can come with the same stereotypes and negative connotations as racism. One of the issues that is seldom discussed and slowing down the progression to bring races together is self-segregation. People can self-segregate themselves unintentionally and this is evident throughout our college campus. The most common reason that people self-segregate is because it is far easier for someone to be surrounded by people who share similarities than not.  In order to further understand self-segregation a study has been conducted on the campus of Frostburg State University to see why students self-segregate. 

(A Diverse group Of Frostburg State University who are apart of Bitter Sweet Magazine, Frostburg's very own literary magazine.) 

Facts and Figures:  

Frostburg State University, located in the city of Frostburg in western Maryland is a predominantly white institution with an enrollment of 5,756 students as per FSU fast facts. Using data from collegefacts.com we can see that approx. 57.2% of the student population is white and 28.8% of the student population is Black or African American while the remaining 14% is made up of Hispanic/Latino, Two or more Races, Asian or Non Residents.  

According to FSU’s website “Frostburg State University affirms its commitment to a campus environment which values human diversity and respects individuals who represent that diversity. Fostering diversity and respect for difference is a fundamental goal of higher education, ranking among the highest priorities of this institution. In this spirit, Frostburg State University is committed to a policy of equal opportunity and to the elimination of discrimination in both education and employment on the basis of race, color, national origin, ethnic background, gender, sexual orientation, age, genetic information, creed, political or religious opinion or affiliation, disability, veteran’s status or marital status, in conformity with all pertinent Federal and State laws on non-discrimination and equal opportunity.” While this statement sounds good in theory, we discovered that in reality, self-segregation is a major issue on our campus.  

In order to shed light on the issue, we invited students to take part in a survey and in person interviews; the results indicated that there are major diversity issues present on our campus. 53.1% of students surveyed indicated that on arrival to FSU, they felt welcomed by other races, however after a year or more attending FSU, a staggering 36.7% of students felt less welcomed by other races. The diversity issue is evident when looking at student organizations, particularly Greek Life. Students are less likely to join a fraternity or sorority that is predominantly made up of a different race.   

 Many students also feel that the Student Government Association is not active when it comes to solving diversity issues. Students surveyed cited many different diversity problems, however the main issue cited was the limitations based upon black students and organizations when it comes to partaking in campus events. A shocking 71.9% of students feel that there is a diversity problem on campus.   

What the students had to say: 

Alan Winkler is a junior at FSU. He is African-American. Winkler did not feel welcomed by other races when first attending FSU, however he did not feel that there was hate or negative energy between races. Throughout the years he thinks that attitudes have remained the same in regard to segregation. Frostburg State University is a predominantly while institution, but Winkler does not feel like his race is well represented. However, he would not let this hinder his decision making on campus, for example, if Winkler wanted to join a Greek life organization, he would first consider if he had friends in the organization not look at the races of the people already in the fraternity. In his own words “if I want to go somewhere, I will, the race of others doesn’t matter.”  

Shane Stephens is a Sophomore at Frostburg State University. Stephens is also African-American, felt welcomed as a sophomore at FSU, and now, Stephens feels more welcomed by other races at Frostburg State University. Stephens thinks that all races are not equally represented and “only white and black people have a say in anything.” Further to this, he also believes that there is not a diversity problem on campus but there is a lot of miscommunication between the races and feels that there is room for improvement in this regard. Stephens does not let the issue of race affect his decision making when planning to attend campus events. He feels everyone should think the same as him and not let something like race cloud there judgement.  

When it comes to wanting better social diversity at Frostburg State University both of these students feel the same way and feel as if improvements could be made. Other students who attend Frostburg State University feel the same way. Over ninety percent of the students who participated in the diversity survey want to see better social diversity at Frostburg State University. Having better social diversity at not only Frostburg State University but also every college can really enhance the overall experience for students at their universities. Having a stronger social diversity in college can encourage people to grow outside their normal boundaries and learn something new about different cultures. Often in this society when people lack knowledge about a race they are quick to judge and make stereotypes and that mindset is not healthy to have when you are attending a college filled with different races and cultures. While the University itself strives to be an inclusive campus, it is up to each and every student to welcome one another. 

Frostburg Shall Overcome. 

“We Shall Overcome, We shall overcome, We shall overcome, We shall overcome someday, Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe, We shall overcome someday” - Guy Catawan 

               Powerful words that became a protest song and important anthem during the Civil Rights movement. A time where people were separated by the color of their skin and treated unfair because they were believed to be lesser than the majority. Throughout history there has been major events where college students have been the backbone for change. From Sit-in”s in Nashville, where students from Historically Black Universities sit and peacefully protested and some jailed for desegregation. Successfully desegregating Nashville lunch counters, than on to University of Missouri black football players refusing to play unless the problematic university  president resigns. Risking their scholarships and chances to play professionally in the future in order to better the lives of their fellow black students from racial inequalities and were successful. Students have the power to make from state to school level no change is small, and important student activist Johana agrees. 

Johana Gourdin most people know her as Jay, a Frostburg State University Mass Communication Major, Resident Assistant for Simpson Hall, Editor of Bittersweet Literary Arts Magazine, Vice President Elect for SGA, Founder of Overcome Frostburg “and a bench of other stuff but I’m tired”. Agrees that change can be made if students would just get up and try to make them happen and with the aid of Overcome Frostburg. Overcome Frostburg is a task force of students that help solve problems dealing with marginalized students of Frostburg State University. It all started when the day after the 2017 presidential election, where our current President Donald Trump gained his position. Jay describes the day after the election as “ a lot of tension everyone was just walking around not talking to each other, everything was just so grey and I did not like it”. Prior to Donald Trump’s election a sort of a chalk war between Trump Supporters and everyone else raged. There were building vandalized with Trump sayings like “Grub her by the election” and “Build a Wall”, for every student and faculty member to see. Jay remember going out and “ washing away some of the trump stuff and writing things like “We Shall Overcome” and “Love trump all” just positive things and people really dug it”. Jay set up a sort of town hall meeting made up of students, resident life supervisors, and faculty members, so that they can share their experiences. She relieved that people all have similar experiences/issues and they just needed support in order to address these issues. 

“When you suffer singularly by yourself you suffer silently because there is no one validating you and you feel less of a need to do something about because you feel it’s just you . . but when you see people you care about experience those same things for some reason it gets you more invigorated to do something about it, more energized or mobilized, to make action to make a change” - Jay 
By Imani Jackson