The strength it takes to stay
By MIKE CONNOLLY
News Writer
It takes a special kind of minority student to survive the white, Catholic world of Notre Dame.
As a member of a different culture, a different background or a different lifestyle, questions are bound to arise from even the most well-meaning member of the majority. The call to speak for your race or set a positive example of your culture for others to understand can be loud at Notre Dame.
"Often times minority students go through what we call the `Pain Olympics,'" said Kevin Huie, assistant director of Multicultural Student Programs and Services (MSPS). "Because there are so few of them, they always think they have to talk for their race or for their culture. That is not what we want them to have to do. We don't want them to think because you are African American or because you are Asian American, tell us what it is like."
While the questions usually are not vicious and stem mostly from curiosity and a desire to understand other cultures, the questions weigh heavily on minority students at Notre Dame.
"Some people don't want that extra burden," said Patrick Parks, a senior anthropology major who is conducting a study on Notre Dame's retention of minority students. "Because academic pressure here at Notre Dame is already strenuous, having that extra burden is something that causes stress for a lot of students. Sometimes they aren't even cognizant of how much weight that is bearing on them and causing them to falter in other aspects of society."
Uplifting the spirits of those who must bear this burden is one of the keys to retaining minority students, according to Chandra Johnson, co-chair of the University's recruitment and retention committee. Services provided by MSPS and multicultural clubs are the key to invigorating minority students. The sense of a community among multicultural students can be lost when they are dispersed in the general population. The clubs and MSPS programs help minority students find a familiar face.
"When you know that a community represents who you are, you are strengthened when you go out into mainstream and do your thing," Johnson said. "Because you have seen a group — regardless of how small — there is a group of people who represent who you are and have the same experiences. They smell the same. They do their hair the same. They understand your jokes. It's a strengthening tool."
Veronica Trevino, an Hispanic freshman from California, agrees with Johnson.
"I think the different programs available to minorities help retain students," she said. "Just knowing that there are other minorities on this campus and knowing that there are organizations on this campus helps a lot."
While the multicultural clubs and services may renew minority students spirits, Parks, an African-American, has found that it is important that minority students are also active in mainstream activities as well.
"Researchers have said it takes a minority student who will take on a minority ideology [to succeed in a predominantly all-white environment]," he said. "What that means is that they can't take a nationalist approach and `stick with their own kind.' The researchers believe that Hispanics who branch out to different communities, like the [overall] community."
While not every student who chooses to join only multicultural clubs and spend time only with minority students is destined to dislike Notre Dame, Parks believes that students who integrate themselves into the general community are more likely to thrive.
"I've seen some students who are really active within their communities but don't branch out very much and they have been successful," he said. "But in my experience that is a rarity here."
So somehow at Notre Dame, minority students must become, in a sense, super minorities. They must bear the burden of curiosity from their white classmates. They must become active members of their own ethnic communities and help support each other. They must join other clubs and activities to engrain themselves in mainstream culture. And somehow, amid all their extra-curricular activity, they must keep up with Notre Dame's rigorous class work.
Some students wilt under this pressure and transfer. Others, like Nikki McCord, a sophomore from Dallas who is involved with several multicultural programs and the senator from Pasquerilla East, thrive.
"I enjoy being a role model," said McCord, an African American. "I think Notre Dame wants those types of students who are going to, in their own way, enrich the lives of people at the University."
Incidents of racism, intentioned or through ignorance, are still the kryptonite that can sap the strength from these super minorities, however.
"The major challenge now are those instances where one person says the wrong thing," Johnson said. "I would like to say they are isolated but I don't think they are isolated yet. It exacerbates a situation that a person was really trying to embrace the culture. It's even more dramatic if it is done by a faculty member or a rector. It's not the majority of folk. It's just one or two but it can really break your spirit."
The problems and roots of racial insensitivity goes far beyond the bounds of Notre Dame's campus and the solution cannot be mandated at Notre Dame. Only time and education can erode this ignorance, according to Johnson. In the meantime, Johnson said the University has taken steps to be more aware of the problems minority students face and try to work through the unexpected incidents.
The University's public support of the four African American students arrested by Roseland police on Feb. 27, 2000, was a strong statement to minority students that the University was serious about addressing their concerns.
"[Racism] is such a part of our social history for so long," Johnson said. "Notre Dame has made tremendous strikes to not necessarily rectify or correct them but recognize these things can indeed hurt and effect a group of people."
Until the day when a greater understanding of the many cultures at Notre Dame is reached, students from different backgrounds will continue to bear the standard for their ethnicity. But each minority student that comes to Notre Dame and stays at Notre Dame lightens the burden on their classmates a little bit. In the meantime, the super minorities will continue to support each other and wait for the day when they are no longer a rarity.
"I tell [students who are struggling at Notre Dame] that by one student coming to Notre Dame, they are doing their part to ensure that this is a diverse campus and that each student can add their own diversity to the Notre Dame community," McCord said.
All News Stories for Wednesday, January 24, 2001
