Where is the humanity in higher education – has it dropped by the waistside or has it rolled under the sea of insufficient inclusion efforts? This is so hard for me to wrap my head around. I don’t usually like to criticize institutions of higher education, much less one that could have been my Alma Mater, but I am moved to share my experience after reading about this professor’s negative encounter with campus security.
I attended Santa Clara University (SCU) straight out of high school as an undergraduate student. I was a French major in my Freshman and Sophomore years in the late 1980’s, and participated in their study abroad program for one semester in my junior year. I decided to transfer because I never felt that I belonged, both as a Latina and as someone who was questioned by other students when I told them my major. I felt it was overwhelming “White” and many of my peers were “rich kids” who seemed snobby. I even went as far as joining a sorority (Alpha Phi) to see if that would help. Yes, I guess it was fun going to the Frat parties and even one of my good friends who is Mexican rushed with me and joined. The girls were nice, I learned about what it was to be Greek, and I did like the fact that this particular sorority’s thing was charity/fundraising. However, I soon learned it was just a band-aid for my depressed feelings.
During that time, SCU was a big Engineering and Business school, so the students who I encountered could not understand why I chose French as my major. They always responded “Why are you majoring in French?” in an almost sarcastic tone and would chuckle or make some strange noise indicating their disbelief. Afterwards, I would nearly always feel small and defeated, especially since my parents didn’t really agree with my choice of major either. I was a lot more shy back then, so I didn’t argue about it when my peers questioned me.
In another attempt to try to remedy this situation of feeling “below” others, I decided to join the Hawaiian Club. Incidentally, my roommate in sophomore year was from Honolulu and we are still great friends to this very day! Please note that my Godmother/cousin has lived in Hawaii over 50 years now, so I had ties to the islands already. I even participated in one of the Hawaiian Club performances, where I learned and danced the Hula on stage – and it actually turned out pretty good!
Many of the Hawaiian students I met through my roommate were in the Engineering School, so I started to get in with a bit of a “sub-culture” at SCU that made life interesting for me. Eventually, I became part of the clique, which not only included Asians, but expanded to other minorities, such as an African American guy who educated us on his music preferences and would flirt with our Vietnamese friend, and even a guy from Spain who was usually talking about his interest in girls. I was never really fully in or fully out of the group – just this Spanish and French-speaking Hispanic girl who was the roommate of the girl from Honolulu, who picked up a few phrases of Japanese. I also allowed myself to be sucked into petty conversations about “Haoles” (the term used in Hawaii for “White” or anyone who is a foreigner), which girls and guys were cute, and who was dating who. Of course, what else do you gossip about when you’re a 20-something undergraduate looking for love while learning?
Despite my challenges as a student at SCU, I developed long-lasting friendships there. I have a couple of good friends I still keep in contact with who were either people I befriended in my classes, met through other friends, or who were my roommates, as previously mentioned. Although SCU is an excellent institution, I had great professors, and I did have some fun (some of which I alluded to already), I would say the best part of going there was the study abroad program. I thoroughly enjoyed my study at a small institute for Americans, taking classes at the local university, and living with my host family in Nantes, France.
Backpedaling from my study abroad experience, at one point, I was so down and out – feeling so lost – I considered joining the military in order to meet my goal of eventually becoming an interpreter for the U.N. (for both French and Spanish languages). No offense to anyone currently a member of or who has served in the military – thank you for your service! Of course my Uncle, who is like a second father to me, encouraged me to join as he was in the military himself. As a result, I met with the Air Force recruiter, and completed all the paperwork. I took the “Defense Language” exam, which was extremely difficult, and I didn’t pass. Still, I knew I could do other jobs; after all, the recruiter assured me I would be good in administration. He was right about that, as later I obtained my M.A. in International Public Administration, and worked in the nonprofit, government, and business sectors more than two decades. And, I digress. After finishing the entire process with the Air Force, I was disqualified after I took the physical, when I revealed one small health issue that I had. Then, I was forced to devise another strategy, so I ended up much happier at another school, and the rest is history (except that I ended up in a different field).
I am sad that SCU is still behind the times, and I really empathize with this professor and her brother. I will never know exactly what it feels to be her, but the least I can do is share my story so someone else can learn from it. I am glad to see that SCU’s administration issued a quick response and will be taking the proper actions to prevent incidents like these in the future. Unfortunately, I see that we are back to square one when it comes to hurtfulness and haughtiness. However, I will do my part to continue to fight the good fight and get into “good” trouble to further diversity and inclusion efforts for all of humanity. You should, too.
It's My Life & Manifesto? 