2008 Woodie Awards
Black professors often uninvolved on campus
Shane Daniels
Issue date: 1/25/05 Section: Forum
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This is merely an observation. For the past four and a half years that I?ve been an undergraduate student at this institute of "higher learning," I?ve noticed two types of professors.
The first type is the professor who is apathetic toward their relationship with the students, the university, and the desire to educate. The second is the professor who is excited about educating, involved with the students and campus life, and who is concerned about formulating thought, not just testing from an overpriced textbook.
The latter come few and far between. For minority students on campus, college life can be over demanding and extra-challenging.
I?m not saying all college students don?t face demands and pressures, but minorities not only face G.P.As and major selections, there is also a demand to know the history of their culture and race. There is an extra demand to succeed because of the struggles that their ancestors faced. We all know the saying, "You wouldn?t even have been here if it wasn?t for...." I?m willing to bet that a majority of the minorities on campus are the first in their family to go to college.
Naturally, this would put a lot of pressure on any student who is responsible for representing their entire family.
There is a great deal of pressure on minorities to figure out how it is that they even ?fit in? to society. How should a minority in America feel towards a dominant society that marginalizes and disenfranchises people of color? Or towards a white society that stereotypes blacks into thinking that they?re all drug dealers, rappers or basketball players? How should a minority college student feel about the struggles and discrimination that their forefathers encountered? What about a dominant society that is willing to throw away thousands of votes in neighborhoods that are populated with blacks?
College is thought to be a time where a person begins to gain an understanding of their identity and the world around them. In addition, college is a time where young adults begin to understand why things are the way they are and for what reason certain things happen.
The first type is the professor who is apathetic toward their relationship with the students, the university, and the desire to educate. The second is the professor who is excited about educating, involved with the students and campus life, and who is concerned about formulating thought, not just testing from an overpriced textbook.
The latter come few and far between. For minority students on campus, college life can be over demanding and extra-challenging.
I?m not saying all college students don?t face demands and pressures, but minorities not only face G.P.As and major selections, there is also a demand to know the history of their culture and race. There is an extra demand to succeed because of the struggles that their ancestors faced. We all know the saying, "You wouldn?t even have been here if it wasn?t for...." I?m willing to bet that a majority of the minorities on campus are the first in their family to go to college.
Naturally, this would put a lot of pressure on any student who is responsible for representing their entire family.
There is a great deal of pressure on minorities to figure out how it is that they even ?fit in? to society. How should a minority in America feel towards a dominant society that marginalizes and disenfranchises people of color? Or towards a white society that stereotypes blacks into thinking that they?re all drug dealers, rappers or basketball players? How should a minority college student feel about the struggles and discrimination that their forefathers encountered? What about a dominant society that is willing to throw away thousands of votes in neighborhoods that are populated with blacks?
College is thought to be a time where a person begins to gain an understanding of their identity and the world around them. In addition, college is a time where young adults begin to understand why things are the way they are and for what reason certain things happen.
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