Julien Hector, a sophomore in the School of International Service, participated in the Black affinity program. Hector originally enrolled in a non-affinity AUx2 class, but dropped out after the first day and enrolled in the Black affinity section instead. ![]() “One thing that I loved about the class was the community that it built,” Hector said. “Having an all-Black space truly changes the way you interact in that space and the level of comfort you feel.”Īccording to Stern, AUx conducted focus groups towards the end of the spring semester with each of the Black affinity AUx2 classes and surveyed allAUx2 students. So far, Stern said the feedback has been very positive, but some of the AUx2 students from the Black affinity sections have called for the AUx2 affinity sections to be taken a step further and expanded to other racial identities. “Because it’s not just Black people that experience racism and that need affinity groups for these conversations because all people of color face that same experience we go through.” “Why don’t other minority groups get to have that experience?” Hector said. Stern said that the AUx program is considering adding more affinity sections for different racial groups and hopes to do so soon. Washington also agrees with potentially expanding the affinity program to more racial minorities, and even adding non-racially based affinity sections, such as a first-gen section or an all-female identifying section. “There’s not just the Black experience versus the non-Black experience,” she said. Hector said he wished the course covered topics more in-depth, considering many of the topics covered, such as intersectionality and socialization, were issues Black students were already familiar with or experienced situations where these topics have been prevalent. He thought the course could have expanded on colorism, police relations, navigation of white spaces at predominantly white institutions and representation in the media.Īrthur Stallworth, an instructor for the Black affinity AUx2 program, hopes to find more positive ways to talk about Black students’ experiences in the future. “I would’ve wanted to find different ways to incorporate Black joy more to comeback to the trauma we encounter,” Stallworth said. While Stern said that one of the few ways that the material for the affinity AUx2 sections differed from the non-affinity sections was in that the affinity section brought in more material on Black liberation and celebration, she also said there is room for improvement. ![]() ![]() “There are definitely areas where we know that there needs to be more voices and experiences shared in the actual content,” Stern said. “And so that is something we will absolutely be taking into account in the year to come.”Īs the AUx program proceeds with its affinity program for AUx2, Washington said the sections should be sufficiently promoted to Black students.
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