Education & Socio-Economic Status

Discrimination on college campuses is a well-established research area. Sources touch on the un-equal dynamic between men and women when it comes to sexual assault and safety. They also discuss the tendency of majority white universities to use minority students as statistics.

Source: Giphy

The source that has made the most impact on my research was an article entitled “Breathing Space.” The author, Alex Mikulich grew up with a Jesuit education. Now he is an anti-racist social activist and scholar who looks at how racism functions within Catholicism and the wider society. Because of his background, it makes sense that his essay targets Jesuit universities that fail to educate white majority students about cultural biases and asses their white privilege. Although he is white himself, he doesn’t seem to show any reservation about the acknowledgment of white moral complicity. Regardless, I think that his background provides him with significant ethos. 

Source: Giphy

Although the arguments vary slightly, each source that I found has an overarching message. Systemic racism and discrimination is prevalent on college campuses today, even though few like to talk about it. Because of so many factors, issues like these are overlooked. All of the information and research is there but only if you are willing to look for it and acknowledge it. Sadly however, unless you are directly affected by some kind of discrimination you are less likely to care about it. Issues of gendered and racial discrimination are also uncomfortable to talk about, and this leads to a gap in understanding because of discomfort.

It’s obvious that I’m passionate about raising awareness about social justice and equality. While looking through sources for this project in particular I became discouraged. BUT not because I wasn’t finding good things! I found essays that talked about racial and gendered discrimination. I was able to broaden my timeline by finding an essay that talked about the disadvantages minority students face before entering the world of higher education. My own experiences were written eloquently and succinctly and I was excited about the wealth of information.

Source: Giphy

But then I stumbled upon a source entitled “Breathing Space” by Alex Mikulich. His essay explains and critiques the role that Jesuit universities play in issues of discrimination. He emphasizes that while Jesuit universities broadcast anti-racist activism, unequal treatment of Black and Mexican students still persist. Mixed emotions filled my mind as I looked over this source. I was happy to know that other people were interested in this topic and had something to say about it, but I worried that now my voice was less important. Where would I fit in a conversation that looked like it had been talked about enough? Would I add SCU to the conversation about Jesuit universities or try to involve myself in the conversation about discrimination on college campuses more generally?

Source: Giphy

In short, this project has proven to be much more stressful than I expected.

After reading Michael Kleins, “What Is It We Do When We Write Articles Like This One – and How Can We Get Students to Join Us?” I related mostly to the students he was disappointed in in the “night library”. While my own research process is a little more complicated then just copying down information from encyclopedia’s, I don’t think I engage with the material enough (in other words gather).

Source: thehuntergatherer.net

In sum, a good research process looks like this, “Researches/writers need to collect data; then they need to sift the data rhetorically, keeping that which is relevant to audience and purpose, and throwing out that which is irrelevant; then they need to seek patterns in the data – and use those patterns to either make or confirm hypotheses; and finally they need to translate their findings into writing.” (25) Klein articulates that the research and writing process should be riddled with detailed analysis and organization. In the abstract those things sound pretty easy to accomplish but take it from me, they’re not.

Source: Giphy

In his statement Klein essentially outlines all the things I’m lacking as a researcher and writer. When I’m doing research, I do only include relevant information and translate my findings into writing, but that only covers a few steps. Although I don’t relate to the ways he describes a good hunter/gatherer, I plan to use his article as a resource in my future research projects. A lot of what he says would make any research assignment I embark on much stronger because it forces me to be a more mindful writer and reader.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the initial idea of archival research can be intimidating. However, in addition to all of the useful articles we read that outlined personal experiences and advice about conducting research in the archives, we were given the 6 C’s.

Content:  What is the main idea?  For documents, list important points/phrases/words/sentences.  For images, describe what you see. 

Citation:  Who created this and when?  What type of source is it? 

Communication:  What is the author’s bias or point of view?  Who is the intended audience?  Why was the source created?   What is the tone of the document or image? [Citation and Communication together help discern the source’s bias.]

Context:  What is going on in the world, country, region, or locality when this was created?  OR,   What other sources (primary or secondary) might help provide answers to this question?  What else do we need to know to better understand the evidence in this source? 

Connections:  How does this connect to what you already know? 

Conclusions:  What contributions does this make to our understanding of archives, research, and/or student life at SCU? How does this text (and/or your experience locating it, reading it, and making sense of it) relate to our class readings? How did you come to these conclusions?  

Source: Giphy

These principles relate to some of the ones outlined by authors like Tirabassi and Gaillet. The primary difference is that they encourage us to connect what we find to our own lives. When doing any type of academic writing I think it’s easy to get caught up in that world. You read about other people’s lives, experiences, history, and events and kind of forget your place and relation to all of that. Being able to relate what we find in the archives to personal experience not only makes the information more relatable, but also makes the reader of our essay more willing to believe what we say. If experiences interact with each other (or occur over and over again) they are more trustworthy. This is something I utilized in my essay, and I’m glad I was able to make that connection.

Ultimately the 6 C’s help students understand how to contextualize, describe, and more deeply engage with the items found in the archives. What more could you ask for?

While walking through the library, I stumbled upon this flyer posted on a bulletin board. It reads, “Navigating Race in the Workplace, Alumni Panel. This panel will feature alumni who will share experiences navigating race-related issues in the workplace, as well as how to advocate for racial justice post-college. Refreshments provided!” Sounds interesting!

Source: Giphy

In my last post, I talked about how the lack of diversity at SCU prepares minority students for the reality of their future work environment. While the familiarity may be the same, this flyer implies that the discrimination is different. While Santa Clara does have it’s incidents, from my perspective there isn’t a large amount of individually targeted racial slurs or attacks. The fact that a panel of alumni want to come speak to students gives the indication that the job opportunities after SCU might pose a threat to feelings of comfort and safety.

Source: clipartlibrary.com

Another interesting, and maybe less important factor that I’m possibly analyzing too deeply is the state I found the flyer in. On the bulletin board were about 15-20 advertisements of different kinds, from music festivals to food services. Every one was perfectly posted and maintained its position. For the picture I held it up, but when you walk towards the board this flyer hangs on one thumbtack off of the bottom edge of the board. I’m not sure if someone purposefully removed the other thumbtack in an act of rebellion or if it’s position on the board is indicative of SCU’s ability to disregard certain issues but, I thought it was worthy of noting.

Source: santaclarabroncos.com

As an incoming student, I looked at this image and was fooled by its depiction. Foolishly again, I didn’t take the time to really check the statistics of diversity at Santa Clara. In my defense, coming from a majority why private high school and being surrounded by caucasian people for my entire life didn’t give me much reason to worry. However, upon moving in, I quickly realized that what was being advertised in pictures and on preview days was not the reality of the student body.

Source: Giphy

While I commend SCU’s efforts, there’s something wrong with putting on a diverse front and then hoping and praying that minority students will stick around because of financial aid. In conversation with many other minority students (of all races) I learned that the massive financial aid and scholarship package is what persuaded them to become a Bronco. That and the images of Black and Latina/o students broadcasted in pictures and videos around orientation time. It isn’t until you are completely immersed on campus that you realize the weight of the illusion.

Source: cardfight.wikia.com

While I don’t think it’s ok to lie or put on a misleading front, I also don’t think that being surrounded by a majority white community is the absolute worst. While alienating, ultimately I believe that it’s a useful tool to have when we are all inevitably thrown out into the world. The reality is that our nation is majority white. The jobs that higher education will propel us into are also majority white. Some minority student’s articulate that they experienced a culture shock at SCU. And while that is hard now, they will be more prepared for future endeavors and won’t have that experience again. Or at least…I hope they won’t. Here I go again, always trying to find the bright side of a crappy situation.

Source: Giphy

Initially, when I found out that we were going to the archives to find information for our research projects, I was confused and nervous. In all honesty, I had no idea what they were or if I would be able to find the sources I needed. In highschool I had a very set and structured way that I approached any type of research project that included Google, jstor, and other random databases I found along the way. This is exactly why I am thankful we were able to read about different researchers experiences within the archives.

Source: http://erhartyorktwpfire.com

Katherine E. Tirabassi’s “Journeying into the Archives: Exploring the Pragmatics of Archival Research” is an essential source of information to read before exploring the archives yourself. In her article she outlines the four main guiding rules she used while conducting research in the archives. The principles of selectivity, cross referencing, categorization and closure all aided her in her ability to successfully conquer the archives. Each one outlines ideas about mindfulness, utilizing opposing and different sources, understanding organization and accepting cessation. Her diction and clarity are apparent throughout the article.

Source: Giphy

This document was most useful for me because it allowed me to walk into the archives with a greater sense of ease. I had all of this information in the back of my head about what I was about to encounter and it was comforting. “Understanding these principles of archival research allows the researcher to become acquainted with the richness and limitations of the local archive and to design a research study that takes these issues into account.” (177) In a much more eloquent way, Tirabassi explains exactly that. Her words are useful not only in the archives, but also outside of them. When I sat down to start writing my essay I utilized some of her strategies within it, and I think my paper was much better because of it.

Yup, you guessed it! I’m writing about diversity. More specifically how minority representation has evolved and when that shift started happening. In general, I’m very interested in comparative ethnic studies and minority/under-representation studies, so this is the perfect topic for me.

Source: Giphy

In the archives I’m hoping to find a news article or post somewhere that talks about including African Americans (or colored people in general) into campus. I’m also hoping to find some statistics on the percentages of representation of each race. It would be interesting to find first person accounts (yearbooks, journals, etc.) of minorities speaking on their experiences at Santa Clara.

Source: Giphy

The Tirabassi reading emphasized the importance of utilizing cross-referencing when researching any topic. For me this is particularly helpful, because it reminds me that even if I’m looking at minorities, I should look at other reactions to the shift as well. To cross-reference more effectively, I plan to research statements made by white students who were feeling affected by the change in representation, as well as teachers and the wider public. Doing this not only makes my argument stronger, but also creates an argument that has a more situated context. It could also potentially be interesting because cross-referencing this specific topic would allow me to map out the racial tensions at the time.

My first quarter of college was overwhelming to say the least. Coming from a private, majority white (but socially aware) high school in Lafayette CA, I thought I knew exactly what to expect at Santa Clara.

I was wrong. Being surrounded by hyperprivileged individuals (when you don’t understand that lifestyle) is an interesting experience. I felt like my priorities didn’t align with the priorities of the people I was surrounding myself with. This in itself made me question a lot of things about myself and my position within higher education as a whole. But then I joined LEAD.

LEAD is a program for first-generation college students. It provides endless opportunities and support for success within college, but most importantly it creates a little community of people with similar walks of life. Becoming apart of LEAD during second quarter and taking a LEAD class this quarter has enabled me to be apart of something that I can relate to more deeply.

Within any space, there are people who are diverse not only in race but also in their experiences. However, sometimes it’s easy to forget that simple fact when you are the minority in that situation. In this class we’ve talked a lot about higher education and the role we play within it, as well as different levels and definitions of literacy. As I progress in my journey throughout college, I hope to learn from those who have differing experiences than my own, and lend a helping hand to those who can learn something from me. All the while feeling the sense of safety that comes with being apart of an organization like LEAD.

My senior year of high school, I was enrolled in an Advanced Research Seminar course. The final project for that course was to write a 25 page research paper on any topic we desired (as it related to history). While there were a few guidelines, all of the research was primarily up to the students. I was worried about being able to find credible sources for my topic, both arguing for and against the argument that I was trying to make. However, through a few different mediums I was able to construct a paper that satisfied the criteria.

Source: agentnewsjournal.com

My topic focused on the relationship between the African-American community and the police from a historical point of view and concluded with moments of police brutality today. I wanted personal accounts, scholarly articles, and news clippings, anything that would help me to prove my point.

Source: Giphy

I started with jstor, a website that offers students access to a wide range of scholarly journals and books on almost any topic. There I found the majority of my secondary sources. Then, in looking to find primary sources I decided to try youtube. There I found videos of first accounts from individuals in the Black Panther Party and within Black communities (in the 1950’s-1970’s) who had something to say about their negative relationship with the police. Finally I used google (pictures) and found various news clippings of incidents where police brutality was reported on and petitions were advertised for equality under the law.

I like that the beam method allows background use from sources like Wikipedia. In high school using Wikipedia (in any way) was the equivalent of an F. I’ve always used secondary  sources or scholarly journals/articles to give myself background on the topic, so this method is interesting, and I’m excited to be able to engage with it.