MEChA mobilizes for Palestine
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Asher Cai brings national award home to CWU
See Page 4
See Pages 6 and 7
See Page 10
Vol. 127 NO. 8
February 29, 2024
By the students, for the students
HOW
DIVERSE IS CWU, REALLY? Ethical dilemma "not news" according to University Relations See on page 3 Diversity flag on campus. (Photo by Isaac Hinson)
Layla Taha Staff Reporter
C
WU, is the “most diverse university in Washington,” at least according to the banners displayed across campus. While the university claims levels of excellence in this department, how does CWU’s diverse population feel that they are being treated on campus? When comparing the diversity rates among other large publicly funded state universities in Washington, CWU, appears to not be the most diverse. According to the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, out of CWU’s student population, the three most considerable racial/ethnic groups are white students, which make up 53% of the population. Next would be hispanic students who make up 18% of the student population, and 9% being students of mixed race. While at the University of Washington’s Seattle Campus, 36% of their student population is white, 27% is Asian and 14% are undocumented students. Lashaya Doty and Karissa Hanzy are both Black students on campus (which only makes up 5% of the student body according to the College Scoreboard mentioned above); they are currently on the board for the Black Student Union (BSU). Doty and Hanzy shared their experiences on campus as
students of color; or rather their disappointment and frustration with how they’ve been treated. Hanzy, who works in dining services, shared their story of dealing with racism from fellow workers on the job. “There’s a student manager in dining who would purposely target me and one of my friends… they would target me because I’m Black, and they’d target my friend because they’re trans and Hispanic,” they said. Doty came to CWU because of the university’s extensive advertising that displayed the school as the most diverse university in Washington. Doty shared her unfortunate encounter with racism during her first year here. “I was just waiting for [one of my friends in the lobby of the dorm building]… and I don’t know who she was, but she came out… and looked me up and down and said, ‘What are you doing?’” Doty proceeded to tell this woman that she was simply waiting for one of her friends who lives in that dorm building. The woman responded by saying, “Oh, well we don’t do that here.” The woman then proceeded to shut the door on Doty to prevent her from entering the building. This wasn’t the only racist encounter Doty has faced on campus, nor was it the worst one.
As a board member of BSU, Doty and the former Vice President of BSU were tabling in the SURC towards the beginning of the 2023–2024 school year when a white student approached their table and repeatedly used racist and derogatory language towards them. “[He] just started talking about how we wanted to be a rapper and he got upset that [he was unable] to use the N-word and full on said it to us and kept repeating [it]… I was so shocked because, out of all people, he came up to the only two Black women there… my former vice president handled it really well… [but the guy] just kept proceeding… while also using the N-word.” Unfortunately, when Doty and the former Vice President of BSU reported this incident,“Nothing happened at all, and that really just struck such a deep nerve for me because I’m Black,” Doty said. “I know what that word means.” Doty shared that this incident put “things into perspective” for her. This opened her eyes to how CWU treats its diverse population, Dohty believes that CWU treats its diverse population in a tokenizing manner.
“They’re very quick to get a picture and that’s it,” Doty said. “They were so quick [to take a picture of] BSU… when it comes to that situation [with the racist student at BSU’s tabling event]… nothing happened and I’m still dealing with the trauma and… just looking at the school so differently because no one did anything.” Both Doty and Hanzy expressed the importance of a Multi-Cultural Center (MCC), and the need for one at CWU. This has been furthered since the construction of the stand-alone MCC building, that the diverse population of CWU was promised, would not be happening. “If we’re really the most diverse school, why don’t we have an MCC… [like other] schools do that aren’t labeled as the most diverse?” remarked Hanzy. “I didn’t even know what an MCC was until I got here, and I didn’t realize we didn’t have one at all… if we’re going to preach diversity, you got to make things happen, not talk about it in a room all the time,” Doty added.
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