As a tour guide, the question of diversity at St. Mike’s is one that comes up frequently with prospective students. This question carries a lot of weight because it sheds light on an issue that has always been prevalent on not only our campus but in New England as a whole: a startling lack of racial diversity. Maine and Vermont alone are the two whitest states in the country, and my home state of New Hampshire is not far behind. While I would still like to think that our campus is relatively open minded, the fact that 82% of our student body is white nevertheless signifies an overwhelming ignorance on our campus to the experience of navigating and confronting an inherently racist society. This is why we continually have issues with white supremacist groups attacking our community with hateful propaganda; an extremely white college campus is the perfect breeding grounds for racist ideologies. This is also why we have seen so many racist costumes during Halloweekend and find students writing racial slurs on the walls of what should be safe residence halls. Although many of us want to honestly believe that St. Mike’s is welcoming to all people, we cannot in good conscience push these issues of blatant ignorance and bigotry to the side.
This, above all else, is why the Day of Learning and Reflection is so crucial in forging a tight-knit campus. If we keep allowing for issues of bigotry to fade away in unread emails from Public Safety while pretending that there is nothing wrong, then we are only disregarding the wellbeing of our community as a whole. Every single person on our campus is affected by racism in some way, whether it be directly or indirectly. When we jeopardize the safety of a few people, then our campus is no longer safe for anybody.
While the details around this event were kept vague and confusing (which understandably frustrated many students), there was clearly so much thought and care that went into every minute of programming. Each of the speakers brought a diverse array of personal knowledge and experience that forced us to think critically about our privileges as a student body and the effects of racism in its different manifestations. Considering the event’s relatively early start, too, the turnout was incredible, and students showed up engaged and ready to learn. During my workshop session with the Peace and Justice Center, each question from the speakers prompted more raised hands than I could count as students reflected on their own experiences and encounters with racism. While I was in Eddie’s Lounge for trivia with the Civil Rights Alliance (an absolutely lovely MOVE group that everybody should get involved with), well over twenty people swarmed in for each session to discuss diversity at St. Mike’s and learn how to identify/address racism. Every student participating in the day’s events seemed genuinely committed to making our community a stronger, kinder, and more inclusive place; for this, I am more grateful than words can say.
While the day certainly instilled hope, it was far from perfect and did not miraculously solve any issues of equity on this campus. There is still much work to be done in meeting the needs of our student body and getting all community members involved in creating an inclusive campus. As Vicky Castillo from the Civil Rights Alliance pointed out during our conversation with the Peace and Justice Center, it is the people who need this event the most that weren’t present: the people who perpetrate and/or are totally indifferent to racism. Including these people in productive dialogue and social action is certainly a challenge, and overcoming it will be a difficult process in the years to come. However, it is crucial that we continue to address these problems so that our community can move forward from issues of bigotry. In this sense, the Day of Learning and Reflection is in no way an end to our campus discussion of racism; rather, it is merely the beginning.