The Divide of the PWI

I personally chose to go to a PWI because I wanted to experience diversity in college. I am a nursing major, and as a nurse, you have to be able to work with people of all race and ethnicities. I am not apposed to going to an HBCU, but at a PWI I will have a greater opportunity to experience diversity....well at least I thought I would.

My experience at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette has been the complete opposite of what I thought it would be. I am currently a junior. Since my freshman year of college I could see how separated the students at UL were. There is an organization on campus called University Program Council (UPC). This is an organization that plans the major events that go on around campus. All UL students are welcome to attend the meeting and become a member, however, the majority of students that attend are black students. At many of the UPC events, the majority of students that attend are black. There are a few occasions where there are many white students at the events, but by the end of the events, the majority of students that are remaining are black.

There are social forums in which students on campus can talk about diversity and different issues, but they are pointless when there are only black students attending them.

After three years of college, I still do not know why my college is so separated. Many black students joke and say things like "Black UL" and some students even say they feel like they attend an HBCU in some ways. Outside of the classroom setting, I honestly feel like I attend an HBCU at times. That is disappointing to me because I came to UL thinking that I would experience diversity amongst all students, but at the end of the day, I don't.

#Brenee