Words cannot describe how exactly I’m feeling but I’ll try. It’s taken me long to write this because I’m disappointed. Disappointed in a school that preaches diversity but nothing about the school is diverse. Before coming to Acadia, the recruiting officers promised me that Acadia would be a home away from home, a place where I could comfortably be myself and a diverse school that is rich in culture, but I got here and nothing.
At first, I thought that it was just because it was the first week of school, but those weeks turned to months, turned to semesters and now I’m about to graduate and Acadia is finally giving us black students some sort of voice. No matter how loud we voice our concerns, often it falls on deaf ears. Every year during elections for ASU president, most candidates promise to promote diversity and inclusivity but every year nothing changes. Honestly, I’m over it.
You want to know why you rarely see a black student run for any executive positions? It’s because we don’t see anyone that represents us on that committee or organization. One would ask, “how do you expect to see representation if you don’t run?”. Well the answer is simple. It’s because no one will vote for us. Everyone knows that these elections are a popularity contest, argue with ya frying pan. Excuse my blackness but it’s the truth, whether you want to admit it or not and this past election just confirmed it for me.
For the first time we had two black presidential candidates. Two! My melanin was shook. This was a big deal because again, you never see this happen here. For once I was excited for this year’s election. Was this a dream? Was this real? To make things even better, we had a lot of black students vying for positions on various committees across campus but guess what? None of them got elected. Call me salty all you want but something didn’t sit right with me so yes, I am saltier than a bag of Lays. I mean everyone is all for inclusion and diversity until it’s actually time to implement it- then everyone’s silent.
Angry black woman aside, Acadia, thanks for making the effort #BlackStudentAdvisor but honestly, it’s 2019. You need to catch up with the rest of the world. You have to realize that black students make up a huge percentage of the population on campus. Not to mention every year the black student population will continue to grow so you must be able to accommodate us, not merely say you’ll accommodate us, but actually accommodate us. Open your eyes, look around, y’all are sleeping on this black excellence.
Sincerely,
Your friendly neighbourhood black girl,
Wam
Wambaire Gichuki is an Environmental and Sustainability Studies student