Comments from panels of UO Students of Color (Winter, 2002)
Experiences with other students
- There's a lot of ignorance on campus. Students need to learn more about
cultures.
- I felt a need to "prove" that I was qualified to be here.
- I always have to be an advocate.
- I was always stereotyped as an athlete.
- I felt pressured to represent my group.
- If I felt offended, I felt powerless. That there was nothing I could do.
- There are also many students of color who are culturally ignorant as well.
- White folks need to understand they have a culture and that opens the door
to other cultures.
- If you are always a minority, it's tough to develop an identity and a sense
of pride.
- People are more interested in how I am different than how I am similar.
- Social acceptance is the biggest worry for EVERYONE.
Experiences in the classroom
- Spend the first 10 minutes of class getting to know each other.
- My comfort level gets better if I see folks at events--that they want to
educate themselves. That makes me feel like I can begin to trust them.
- Faculty support of student programming is important. Seeing faculty there
is helpful.
- Professors make assumptions---"Oh, you're from..." DON'T
make the assumptions.
- We've got to get at culture for white students too.
- If you make a mistake, just apologize. You don't need to go overboard. Apologize
to the student and to the class.
- It helps if topics are put into the curriculum that are related to race.
- Start general from the beginning of class--where are people from?
- What faculty do that make students feel invisible.
- Students will give you a "pass" if you are trying
- It's not so much racism, as it is indifference.
- Faculty seem to not be selectively mean or bad--if sometime like that happens, it usually is being done to all students.
Contact Us:
Email: tep@uoregon.edu, Phone: 541-346-2177 Fax: 541-346-2184
Teaching Effectiveness Program, Teaching and Learning Center, University of Oregon.
Last Modified: 10/10/11