It has been roughly one month since I moved into my dorm and started school. Unfortunately, I have to admit that I prejudged my institution based on the sole fact that it was a PWI. PWI stands for predominantly white institution. Now, you may be asking yourself, why is that such a big deal? That was something I was actively asking myself as well.
In order to understand my perspective on things, you have to consider the historical context. During slavery in America, black people were not allowed to receive any form of education. Once we were able to receive an education, predominantly white institutions or schools did not allow black students to attend their universities. As a result, historically black colleges were created. It became a safe space for young black students to receive higher education and to embrace our culture. Now you can imagine what type of conflict may occur for a young black student choosing between a PWI and an HBCU. I was questioning whether I should have attended a school where I always had the opportunity to go?
One of the things that kept crossing my mind was dealing with ignorant people. I feel that as a young black girl I am always on the fence ready to defend my race, my identity, and my purpose. So coming into school, I was just “wishing a white person would!” In fact, there was a minor situation that solidified that feeling. Unfortunately, we cannot escape racist and prejudice people because of the society we live in. However, I have been getting to know people that are not like me and come from different backgrounds. I’m not always going to be in an area where I’m surrounded by the same people. Therefore, i’m taking this opportunity to inform myself about other people and cultures while also teaching someone else about my culture.
Additionally, I was wondering what campus life would be like. I already had a glimpse of what the college experience is on an HBCU campus. You have the black sororities and fraternities, lit homecomings with famous artists, step shows, extravagant bands, band dancers, and just the overall comfortability of being the majority. I’m not saying that PWIs don’t have those things; however, I was assuming that they didn’t. The first weekend I spent on campus canceled all of those assumptions. My school has greek life for all ethnicities, the band is really good, and there are a lot of fun events to go to on campus. Also, There’s an organization called the black student alliance which is for the black community on the George Mason campus. In fact, it branches out into a bunch of organizations for black students that are Caribbean, Haitian, African, etc. There has been multiple events, parties, and panel talks that have made this past month as comfortable and enjoyable as any other school.
Overall, there is a lot of debate between young college students about PWI versus an HBCU. I believe the “rivalry” between the two should come to an end. We all are receiving an education. We all have our reasons for choosing where we attend and just because someone attends a certain school doesn’t make them or their education better. We should be celebrating each other and our accomplishments, whether it’s at a PWI or an HBCU.
http://www.americanradioworks.org/segments/hbcu-history/
The Reflection Room 