If you were to walk into Thompson and go through each floor, you would notice a distinct difference between the 2nd floor and the 3rd and 4th floor: segregated housing. On the 2nd floor, you will see a wide variety of people from all different ethnic backgrounds, but upon reaching the 3rd and 4th floor, you will only see a body of Latino students. Although at first this split may seem racial, in fact it is simply a split of preference. On the 2nd floor is standard UC Davis housing, and on the 3rd and 4th floor is the Latino theme dorm: Casa, which is the spanish word for home. My experiences as a freshmen in Casa has shown me that although the theme dorms on campus help to protect, support, and nourish their residents’ culture, due to the …show more content…
In these dorms, the initial interactions that socially code us throughout college are initiated. These social interactions create and solidify bonds between students that can continue for the rest of their lives. A change to the demographics of the freshman dorms doesn’t just create an immediate effect, but also affects every current and future resident of UC Davis. A freshmen social group that is initially less diverse will lead to a less diverse group of friends throughout the remaining years of their undergraduate studies. This reduces their social group to a less diverse group of individuals, which reduces the chance for them to interact with other cultures and overcome any form of culture shock that they are affected by, whether it be here in UC Davis or later in their careers. Freshmen dorms are the only place that nurtures cultural interaction to create a UC Davis community that is ultimately more unified, accepting, and respectful of all people and their different cultures.
We must recognize that the ethnic dorms’ benefits come at the unfortunate expense of diversity for the rest of the housing at UC Davis. Although themed dorms are successful in creating a safe environment for a culture to thrive in, they also create a negative impact on the overall cultural environment of UC Davis. Themed housing builds walls around
The practice of ethnic separation and segregation is common on every college and university campus. Since this practice has happened through history, it is remarkable that this has only been recognized recently as a true problem (Jacobs, 2). Segregation has hampered America as long as it has existed. Ethnicity and segregation was nearly the cause of this country splitting apart during the Civil War. Since then reformation and hard work has attempted to bring unity to this country. Though today, college students have regressed, university pupils are "standing by" their own and are not branching out to those who are unlike them in ethnicity. People in general, but more specifically college students
Throughout this first chapter of Latino Americans the key points in my opinion were the following. Starting with the origin story of the Americas, the book mentions there might not be a definitive starting point because there “500 nations in North America before a European ship ever dropped anchor off the Eastern Seaboard” (Suarez 3). The book from this point on chronologically starts narrating, first about 55 years before Protestant refugees from Mayflower ever stepped on American soil, a Spanish sailor Pedro Menendez de Aviles forced French protestants from their Florida coast settlement to then stablish St. Augustine. From this point the book continues to tell the stories of Juan de Oñate, from witnessing the founding of Santa Fe, the oldest capital of North America, to exploring more than half a dozen of American states, he is one of the most fundamental conquistadors who is the least
Some of these dorms are labeled as the “party dorm”, and many freshmen are unaware of this because they are given little information and they do not have previous friends or family that have attended the university before them. Monica and Karen were both housed in the “party dorm” at MU, the party dorms are directly affiliated with the Greek life on campus. The Greek system is a sorority or fraternity that consists of mostly white male and female members from privileged backgrounds. These members of the Greek life usually have a great deal of connections both on and off campus and this in turn gives them more power within the educational system as well as the social aspect in the universities. Many students will attempt to join this elitist Greek life without realizing the consequences that come with the membership. Some of these consequences are the out-of-pocket costs to join, another is the constant partying that id involved as well as the deeds that you must do to prove your loyalty to the fraternity or sorority that you are hoping to become a part of. About less than half of the students that were in the same housing unit as Karen and Monica opted to try and join this elitist group. Many freshmen saw the Greek life as a great way to party and relieve stress but much more importantly these students saw free alcohol and a great social connection. That is what these
This paper will try to explain the variety of hardships many Mexican-American students endure in hopes to gain a higher education. Many are driven by the “American Dream”, which is the idea that individuals living in the U.S. have the equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and abilities. The American Dream often motivates foreigners to enter the United States illegally, hoping for that “equal opportunity” to success. However, not everyone living in the U.S. has equal opportunities, compared to native-born American citizens. This is why it can be difficult for Mexican-American students to attend colleges and universities. A higher education is difficult to obtain for Mexican-American students because of their low socioeconomic status, their differing cultural and structural characteristics, and the social and political institutions in our current society. Although this paper does not focus on the educational opportunities in Mexico, this paper will mostly focus on the educational system in the United States, particularly California State University, San Bernardino. In addition, this paper will refer to Mexican-American students as first-generation college students.
One undergrad student who is now a senior, Cassandra Skinner, tells how her choice to attend an HBCU was difficult due to the misconception that these types of schools were “ghetto” or “ratchet”. But after her first semester, and being on the cheerleader squad, she realized that this is where she belonged, with “her
The current trend in lack of Latina/o students attending college combines a lack of college readiness with a deficiency in resources to prepare this student population. More and more higher education scholars are accepting these deficiencies as roadblocks to college access, and are looking to preparation programs and parent educational resources as a subject worthy of consideration. There are many different challenges being faced by this population, a population that is according to Oliva and Nora, “the fastest growing minority population in the country”(Oliva & Nora, 2004). Research shows that “less than 43% of Hispanic high school students are qualified to enroll in 4 year institutions”(Saunders & Serna, 2004). With the rapid growth in
As a freshman college student I did not expect that through a fulfillment of graduation requirements, I would stumble across this particular Latino studies curriculum. When I registered for this course my mind was just focused on the fact of attending and perhaps learning a thing or two about my heritage. I also expected to find myself in a position of easy success for this course, and while I believe that I was quite successful, it was not as simple as I projected. The reason behind some of the challenges that I faced were because, unlike most college courses were students are just mindlessly completing homework assignments or writing essays for the purpose to be critiqued, this course engaged emotion and made the students truly immerse themselves
In The New York Times, the article “The Lie About College Diversity.” by Frank Bruni discusses his theory on college diversity. Bruni explains that colleges are trying to enhance their campus. The college fails to get these diverse groups to go outside their comfort zone and intermingle. There are places where these groups can go to feel comfortable like housing environments, groups, fraternities, and clubs. However, they fail to go outside these groups. The colleges should help make it possible for these different diverse groups to interact, socialize, and drive cohesion. This will help college students integrate better into real-world diverse environments.
First generation students are characterized as unprepared for college. The Latino first generation is so pervasive and over population that many Latino first generation do not have a affliction as those whose family has been in the United States for a while. A first generation student especially that is Latino, are usually from income are notoriously low compare those to all American family. Over the past decade, the latino population has grown from 35.3 million to 50.5 million , composing 16.3 percent of the total population. In fact, more than half of the growth in the total population in the U.S from 2000 to 2010 can be attributed to the increase in the Latino population. Latinos clearly constitute a vital population of the U.S population. Only 37% of Latino high school complete between the 18 and 24 are enrolled in college and one at of ten hold a college degree. Overall , there household plays a huge part into the minds of a first generation
Latino/Hispanic Americans cover a much wider demographic then believed. Latino/Hispanic Americans consist of; Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Guatemalan American to name a few. Latino/Hispanic Americans are the largest ethnic group in the United States. The Latino/Hispanic culture is very different than ours. Their culture differs in economics, politics, family traditions, family structure, religion, education, language, fashion, art, music, dancing, and food. As natural born Americans in the United States it is important for us to learn about the different cultures migrating into the United States. Many United States citizens have a hard time understanding other cultures; being culturally insensitive is a common theme in the United
Earning a college degree has long been considered—one of the major keys in achieving the American Dream. However, contrary to popular belief, that theory has been proven invalid. According to a recent study from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRBOSL), “Education does not help black and Hispanic college graduates protect their wealth the same way that it does for their white and Asian counterparts.”
What could schools do to support the college access of Latino immigrant students? To understand how public high schools serving low-income, immigrant students (majority of whom were of Hispanic descent) achieved high rates of college acceptances, Jaffe-Walters and Lee (2008) conducted an ethnographic study to explore how schools provide students with the academic skills and social capital to support college-going. Among other factors, the researchers found that staff resisted “deficit thinking by focusing on the structural and material conditions that limit families” (p. 285). That is, instead of blaming students’ circumstances for struggles to achieve in school, educators at these schools sought ways to overcome structural barriers and provide students with the resources and capital necessary to graduate and attend college. One way of preparing all ELLs attending the schools was grouping students heterogeneously in academically challenging courses, with an “assumption that all
In response to studies that suggest that college and career preparation are beneficial for at-risk Latino students, how does GEAR UP integrate this research within their agency? As stated before, GEAR UP’s initiative is to provide information regarding higher education to students and their families. The agency focuses on aiding low-income students who are prepared to prosper in a postsecondary education. First and foremost, how is GEAR UP addressing the growing Hispanic/Latino population? In 2014, the Hispanic/Latino outreach unit was written into the GEAR UP grant and stated that it would provide funding for seven years (2014-2021). Noted in the research for the GEAR UP grant, the growing number of Latinos students represented the largest
A. Hook “The most urgent problem for the American education system has a Latino face.” (Gándara)
The culture of the Snyder-Phillips dorm, in my observation, appears to be different where it concerns race relative to minorities. My analysis is in comparison to the atmosphere