It’s unexpected, but inevitable. A recurring anachronism every year in Lakeside Dining: segregated seating. In the main hall, you could draw a line separating a large body of black students from tables of mixed students.
Although on the surface, this split may seem racial, in fact dining is not split black and white. On one side of the divide are the West Lag dorms, and on the other side is Ujamaa, the African-themed dorm (one of Stanford’s four ethnic themed houses). Each sits on its own side, simply as a matter of convenience.
The debate on the cultural themed dorms is nothing new at Stanford. One side points to the hypocrisy of a university that prides itself on diversity but separates students based on ethnic background, creating islands of culture that limit cross cultural interaction on campus as a whole. The other side emphasizes the cross-cultural experiences within the dorms themselves, pointing out that these houses offer places on campus for these backgrounds to thrive, provide a necessary comfort zone for some incoming minority students, and that a certain percentage of their populations come from outside the ethnic background of the houses.
The truth–and the challenge–lies somewhere in between. Culture and integration exist in a precarious balance. The very systems that lead to cultural preservation and development hinder integration. In a fully integrated dorm system, where each dorm had exactly the same racial makeup as Stanford as a whole, it would be difficult for any single cultural group to thrive. This would be a dilution. There would still be some cross cultural interaction in the daily lives of students in the context of academics and other activities, but they would hardly be the celebrations we see coming from our ethnic theme dorms. The world described in John Lennon’s “Imagine” always seemed quite bland to me.
On the other hand, maintaining these centers of cultural heritage and pride comes at a price. There are walls around our ethnic communities. Although the culture within them may be thriving, that culture is hidden from other students. And to create these dorms, other dorms must become less diverse. Having 15% of black freshman, 7% of Asian freshman, 10% of Native American students, and 15% of Chicano and Latino freshman live in a separate dorm denies the significant benefits of a diverse residence to the rest of the Stanford community.
The basic social unit of Stanford is the freshman dorm. Hours of programming and social interaction go into creating and solidifying the bonds in each dorm. These dorms then subdivide into draw groups, which then carry that initial social coding through the remaining years. A change to the demographics of freshman dorms affects every other campus residence at Stanford. A less diverse freshman crew leads to a less diverse group of friends through all four years.
In short, the scales are too weighted on the side of the culture. We are focusing too much on preserving culture and too little on creating a thoroughly diverse campus, where cross-cultural interaction is the norm. We need to correct this.
First, we must recognize that the benefits of the ethnic themed dorms come at the expense of diversity in the rest of housing. These dorms are touted by the University for their successes, but this analysis overlooks the negative impact on all cultural groups at Stanford.
This starts at the student level. If we want a diverse campus, we have to make it If you notice a certain homogeny within your dorm or group of friends, go out of your way to expand your borders. If you don’t live in a theme house, go visit your friend living in one. If you live in a theme house, spend time in a cultural center that is not your own. Choose a different seat at lunch. Take your food and a small group of two or three friends and sit at the far side of the dining hall. Donner with Zapata, Rinc with Okada, and West Lag with Ujamaa. (Muwekma with Columbae?) Don’t expect any instant cultural display or force the issue. Go in, make friends, talk about IHUM, and in their own time matters of background and identity will come up.
Student action is only the beginning, however. Changes should be made at a dorm and university level. RAs can incorporate more cross-dorm programming between ethnic theme houses and their neighbors. Imagine the experiences that could come from a “Crossing the Line” event focusing on the two groups’ different identities and background. A joint ski trip would allow new groups of friends to form. (After writing this article, I discovered that the theme dorms had a joint barbecue last Thursday. This is a great step and hopefully the first of many such programs.)
The University itself needs to examine housing policy for ethnic theme dorms and consider how to increase diversity both within the ethnic theme dorms and in the rest of campus residences. One admittedly drastic change would be to disallow freshman from living in ethnic houses. Those who want that experience could then choose it after their first year. A more moderate recommendation would be to tweak the proportions of minority representation in each ethnic theme dorm or even just moderate the percentage of the freshman in the theme dorms of that minority.
With these changes, some of that diversity we’ve been hearing about so much about may just seep beyond the walls of the themed dorms that nourish it to the rest of Stanford.
Joe Gettinger ’11 is a Mechanical Engineering major. Email him at joegett@stanford.edu.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I would like to note that the email The Review Digest with a link to this story uses the title “Ethnics Dorms”, and I would love it if the first s in that mistaken headline is corrected in the future.
honestly, I’m tired of what the review has to say about Ethnic Theme Dorms… maybe one day, one of your writers will live in Ujamaa for the year and actually take part in the community instead of assuming from the outside. step inside, take a walk. you will find that its diversity extends far past black and white – the 50% of black students you will find are incredibly diverse with in. it is your ignorance to assume that black students all have a common background, culture, or pre-college experience. furthermore, the other 50% of the dorm is a diverse mix of students from all over the world. I challenge you to find me another dorm on campus, especially a freshman dorm with the same level of diversity, not to mention the same level ove intentional conversation around race, class, gender, and many other issues of privilege and equity.
second of all, it is NOT the job of the students of color at Stanford to provide YOU with a “diverse experience.” If you wanted one so badly, you are more than welcome to preference one of the theme dorms in your next draw selection or join in on any of the numerous activitied going on at the ethnic cultural centers.
Please feel free to contact me if you would like a PERSONAL INVITATION.
Sincerely,
the WHITE Ujamaa Ethnic Theme Associate 2009-2010
Walk into any dining hall and you´ll see that white students love to sit together, but nobody complains about that, do they? Seems pretty normal, doesn´t it? Now you want to complain when black students do the same?
As a freshman in Ujamaa I was worried about this potential de facto segregation. But the aim of this community is not to separate black students from others but to provide them with a solid foundation of support from which we can branch out effectively. This is not an idea limited to the ethnic themed dorms. Students from Wilbur hang with kids from Wilbur and Stern with those from Stern. These communities are only an extended arm to those who historically received no help. I eat at West Lag dining (lakeside), and my table accurately represents not my race or my ethnicity but my friends white, black, puerto rican, or haitian.
First, to Joe, thank you for a great article that I wish I’d written.
Second, to Michaela, I don’t think the issue at hand here is the level of diversity within ethnic theme dorms- I don’t think anyone can reasonably dispute that Ujamaa and the others have incredibly diverse populations on every level. No one is accusing Uj, Okada, Muwekma, or Casa Zapata of being a monolithic bastion of racial separatism. I have several friends, black, white, and other, who have lived in Uj and had wonderful, life-changing experiences, and I would never trash-talk the community that made them possible.
I think that the real issue is the effect that the ethnic theme dorms have on the rest of the housing system: namely, that they siphon non-white freshmen away from the general-purpose freshman dorms, thus making all the non-theme houses less diverse (in racial terms, at least). I’ve even heard complaints from students of color that the freshman dorm system is “too white.”
Which brings me to your (excellent) second point: why should a student of color at Stanford be obliged to provide some sort of “culturally diverse experience” to his or her white classmates? The answer, obviously, is that no such obligation exists. We each have the freedom to choose who we spend our time with and how we conduct our personal affairs. A “diverse experience” is not a fundamental human right that society can legitimately expect its members to provide for others.
I would, however, argue that the ADMINISTRATION of Stanford University has at least some obligation to provide an environment which is fairly conducive to such experiences. All of Stanford’s advertising materials and statement practically shout about the value of exposure to a “diverse environment” and the substantial contribution that cross-cultural exchange and communication can make to a liberal education. The University even goes so far as to explicitly state that it considers race (and other factors that contribute to “diversity”) in its admissions specifically because of the benefits that a truly diverse educational community can confer on its members. It seems to me that Stanford is making a real commitment to “diverse experiences” for its students. Given this, it seems very troubling that the University administration, through its Housing arm, continues to endorse policies which substantially reduce most students’ chances of living in a residential community which reflects the abundant racial/ethnic diversity of the University as a whole.
This isn’t to say, of course, that Stanford is responsible for spoon-feeding us everything. We should all make a personal effort to talk to and befriend those who are different from us. But institutional factors do play a huge role.
Dear All Reading this Article,
I must say that the proposed facts in this article are terribly misinformed. From the very first statement about the anachronism of Lakeside Dining’s seating arrangements to the underlying sentiment that ethnic theme dorms prohibit diversity, this article is just wrong.
Just to immediately dispel the introduction, should you walk into the dining hall at any given point this week, you will find that the Ujamaa residents do not sit in any one designated place in the dining hall; this is by choice. The staff this year has decided to not tell our residents that there is a specific “Uj” side of the dining hall. Not that there is anything wrong with all the Ujamaa residents sitting together on one side of the dining hall. No; that is not the reason at all. Instead we just found no reason in giving students false notions about the way the world is supposed to work (which ironically this article is doing).
And on the note that the University needs to reconsider diversity education and practices on this campus, I must agree with you, Mr. Gettinger. However, I do not understand how ethnic theme dorms are even factored into the equation as a problem. Joe, I do see your efforts to applaud the strength of Ethnic Theme Dorms, however your scope is limited. Yes, the ETDs do exist as a place for cultural congregation but that is not the sole purpose of them and arguably not even the primary purpose. Ethnic theme dorms exist to do everything you mentioned about educating individuals about culture and then some. Our very thrust is to provide intellectual discourse within that given dorm about it’s respective ethnicity. We are a strong model of residential education. In fact, just tonight the Ujamaa resident fellow is hosting a conversation and dinner on Henrietta Lacks with two esteemed discussants in the biomedical field, one of which is a professor, another an alumni. This conversation is strictly for the upperclassmen of the dorm, who by the way are of every ethnic and cultural background as they do have the freedom to draw into the dorm. Now, what other dorms on this campus do you know do that?
The staff and resident fellows of Ethnic Theme Dorms are quite aware of the undue burden we face. However, it is unfair to attempt to foster this controversy so early in the year when the freshmen residents have not yet had a chance to understand for themselves the culture of our ETDs. While other dorms face the challenges of having their flags stolen (a very serious issue as I do not take thievery lightly), we have to defend our dormitories’ very existence. Why is it that we are the easiest targets for make believe controversies? Stanford’s ethnic theme dorms have done nothing to harm or hinder the education or experience of any resident, freshman or upperclassmen alike. In fact, we only exist to strengthen that experience. As some of the last four class dorms in existence, we encourage cross-class community. We promote cross-cultural dialogues. We have as much fun if not more than many other dorms. And most importantly, we encourage nothing short of love for the Cardinal Community. When was the last time that you ever felt ill at ease or not welcomed in an ethnic theme dorm?
While I am saddened that this article even exists, I am glad that the conversation has begun. This way, the staff and residents of ETDs can begin to dispel the ignorance surrounding our homes. By all means I do, as Joe suggested, implore all of you to come visit an ethnic theme dorm. Do not hesitate to stop by. In fact, if you need to be let in, call 323-219-3649 and ask for Doc. I’ll let you in.
With Cardinalove,
Yvorn Doc Aswad
Ujamaa House Resident Assistant, ’10-’11
Co-President, Black Student Union
“We are focusing too much on preserving culture and too little on creating a thoroughly diverse campus, where cross-cultural interaction is the norm.”
There are plenty of opportunities for students of all colours to interact with one another. Ujamaa dorm has themed programs every week. Emails are sent out and everyone is invited. The BSU has events through out the year, the most recent being BSU Freshmen convocation. Again, fliers were given out at the activities fair. The turn out at these events is always the usual Uj residents, other members of the black community (of diff races). The point i am trying to make is that you can not talk about themed dorms creating a barrier to diverse interactions if you do not make an effort to show up to these many events that are a chance for everyone to come together and learn about one another. Living next door to one black/asian/native american/hispanic student or even living with 5 black students in your dorm is not going to teach you much about their culture. If you really, and i mean REALLY wanted to experience the diversity at Stanford, there is nothing stopping you. The same black kids that live in Ujamaa are in your classes, they go to the same parties as you, they will eventually live on east campus,they eat in the same dinning halls as you. What is stopping you from talking to them?
Dear Joe,
Three notes (I’ll be brief because those above have spoken with more clarity than I ever could!):
1. You raise very REAL considerations on the negative externalities these dorms pose (and I am not just saying that, they made me think – thank you!)
2. However, I think further investigation of what exactly ethnic theme dorms are and the wealth they offer makes it clear that whatever solution we use to address these externalities, “increasing diversity” (not sure what they would even entail) in what I have found to be the most diverse dorms on campus is not a viable one for a number of reasons. Least of which is that it isn’t the problem to start off with.
3. I have been on The Farm long enough to remember other Review articles on this topic and I want to THANK YOU because for all my disagreements with your conclusions, this was written with much more respect and sensibility than I ever saw in its predecessors. I hope that the Review can continue this approach to the exchange of ideas so that we can better sharpen one another with the diversity of viewpoints a place like Stanford gifts us with*
*and as a side note, nowhere at Stanford have I experienced as much breadth of opinion and perspective as I did in my two years in Ujamaa