This is the fourth installment in a five-part series looking at race dynamics among undergraduates. Tomorrow's story will examine administrative leadership in undergraduate minority affairs.
Trinity senior Tammy Duker, president of Hillel, the Jewish organization on campus, does not want to be white--she wants to be Tammy Duker.
Duker, like many other students at the University, is often categorized into a general group that is attributed certain values based on what others perceive to be her ethnic background--she is often seen as white, not Jewish or a woman. No matter what individual perspective she may try to bring to a discussion concerning multiculturalism, Duker said she runs the risk of being identified as simply another "white" student.
Any student who is identified as a member of this white group may confront certain perceptions commonly associated with it.
One of these perceptions is that whites are not concerned with racial issues, because as members of a privileged race, minority problems do not affect them, said Robert James, a black staff psychologist for Counseling and Psychological Services and the organizer of "Dialogue Racism," which aims to promote understanding among the races.
Another widely held perception, said Trinity junior Katie Higgins, president of the Panhellenic Council, is that white students view their years at the University as a stepping stone toward a successful career, rather than a serious time to address social issues.
Most importantly, the white student is seen as failing to bear some responsibility in correcting racial problems which his or her race has historically caused, said Trinity junior Shavar Jeffries, outgoing president of the Black Student Alliance.
The fact remains that these perceptions are often a reality, but, contrary to popular belief, not just among the white community. "There is apathy within all of the communities, and it is easier to pinpoint the white community because... you can't really identify the white community," Duker said. "There is no white students' union."
The factors that prevent whites from playing a more active role are numerous, but not all are easily identified or remedied.
Trinity junior Anji Malhotra, co-president of Spectrum Organization, said that fault may lie with existing University structure. "The University has set up this polarizing multicultural ideal that doesn't really allow for mutual understanding," Malhotra said.
The white greek system, she said, also promotes intolerance. "A lot of white students who are in fraternities and sororities don't even come to tolerate diversity or respect people who are culturally different than themselves," she said.
James agreed that campus infrastructure plays a significant role, but said that the problem extends beyond the University.
"Unfortunately, the way this campus is, as well as in society in general, there is a tendency among different races of going the wrong way, not really crossing paths in any meaningful way," he said. "As long as that separation is there, there is no understanding."
Although the University has recently initiated a vast restructuring of the residential system, some campus leaders say that changes in residential life will not have a significant effect without strong individual leadership.
Indeed, as University Vice President and Vice Provost Leonard Beckum pointed out, leadership is the key issue in dealing with and understanding race. "I don't care how you configure residential life if there isn't leadership," Beckum said. "It takes leadership to pull it together and make a common thread out of those differences that we have."
Some suggest that the University encourage leadership and improve communication through its curriculum. Currently, holding discussions concerning racial issues is often sponsored by various cultural organizations on campus.
"There must be a way to build bridges that makes it a more legitimate conversation piece than to have to do it in the dorm with Spectrum," Beckum said. "We have not been crafty enough nor had the ingenuity to have enough of these conversations occur as a part of our curricular offerings."
If students are exposed to these issues in a neutral classroom setting, there is the potential for vastly improved communication and understanding, he said.
While the curriculum can promote progress, Trinity junior Lex Wolf, Interfraternity Council president, said that the University could take a further step by rewarding dedicated students with lighter course loads.
"If [students] want to work on an issue seriously and effectively and really delve into it and deal with it... their hands are tied, they have to take four classes," Wolf said. Currently, the University annually offers five student leaders reduced course loads through the Student Affairs Leadership Assistance Program.
While the University's infrastructure may not be encouraging white participation in racial issues, some offer other factors that may play a significant role.
"Many [white students] are tired of hearing African Americans or other people of color complaining, and are not aware of what is going on and the difficulties that these people experience on a daily basis," James said.
Jeffries said that white students simply do not understand the depth of the problem. "If you don't live the experience every day, you won't feel compelled to act on it," Jeffries said.
He pointed to the disparity in status of black employees and white employees at the University and to the dearth of black faculty and administrators.
"If we could show how people are dying because of racism, maybe then [white students] would understand," Jeffries said.
This communication gap surfaced last month when Ben Chavis, former director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, called the University "an elaborate plantation."
Many white students said they felt alienated by the speech. In a letter to the editor appearing in The Chronicle, Niel Siegel, Trinity '94, called Chavis' speech both "insulting" and "categorically disgusting."
"Chavis' words served only to... potentially close the minds and ears of many members of the University community who are otherwise progressive and open-minded to very real cries of racial injustice," Siegel said.
Jeffries said this argument is "ludicrous... People just can't accept the truth, so they close their minds to it," he said.
Chavis' statements serve a purpose, regardless of how exaggerated they may be, said engineering senior Charles Choi, president of the Asian Students Association. "Shock value is important because it makes people think," Choi said. "[Students] should look beyond the analogy and to really see why he is making that analogy."
While outspoken leaders such as Chavis may polarize discussion on racial issues, students in general have to play a more active role in achieving cooperation and understanding, said Trinity sophomore Bill Bermont, chief of staff for BSA and one of its only white members.
"It's a problem for both sides," Bermont said. "Whites and blacks could be doing a better job of getting together."
People of all races need to confront the apathy that hinders progress, Beckum said. "People complain and carry on a lot, but they don't go out and do anything about it. Everybody wants to sit around and watch television and let somebody else fix it."
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