I’m a student at Queen’s University, in year 3. I’m a minority and I have heard recently of Queen’s reputation as being a ‘white’ homogenous school. I’ve been doing research and heard from other individuals how Queen’s has a racism issue(such as the racist party 2 years back for example). A friend of mine told me due to this, he is not involved on Campus and another person said being a POC is draining here. One also told me that if they knew of the race situation, there is a high chance they would not be here. I am pretty progressive/left leaning and am really uncomfortable with the idea of being around a school of conservatives. I admit, I’ve had trouble making friends the past 2 years and feel isolated some times and am now considering if race could be a factor. I did want to change things this year and be more outgoing but hearing of this news is really starting to make me feel discouraged. My program is pretty left leaning and I haven’t seen racism yet, but after hearing this, i’m really down. Worst of all, I fear I might have wasted my undergrad(youth) coming to the wrong school. Knowing you can never get this time back just makes this feel worse. I’m just so confused/conflicted now. What do you all think?
You have been at Queen’s for over 2 years and you are just now “hearing” about its racist reputation? Have you experienced racism there yourself?
You have been unable to make friends in two years. It seems that you are looking at racism as an excuse for your isolation. Please contact the student counselling office at Queen’s for help in dealing with your situation.
I wouldn’t say I’m friendless. I do have them and have started building more, I guess not a tight group like most people. I should have phrased this better. I did mention the racist party 2 years ago and recently, there was a discussion in a group about people protesting white supremacy. This made me do research and hear from others on the racism issue. My issue is I’m hesitant to get more involved due to this
You wrote: “I haven’t seen racism yet”.
Then do not assign blame to a non-existent issue.
Queen’s is a very well respected university.
That is just me. I have said before I am not that active in campus and also my program is pretty left leaning. That being said, did you read where I said others have recounted issues of racism. If you google it, there are even articles.
A lot of people try to find racism in places where it doesn’t exist. Even in a community where everyone looks pretty much the same (if this still exists anywhere), there are still going to be some disagreements, some shy people, some pushy people, and some people who are friends and some others who are not friends.
Academically I have heard very good things about Queens. Its reputation is very strong. If you have not had problems for your first two years there, I don’t think that you should go looking for them.
I have worked for the past 20 years or so with a large group of people from all around the world, including every continent except for Antarctica (I don’t think that there are any people who live in Antarctica). A lot of the key to being successful in this environment is to accept people as they are and don’t start blaming them for things that don’t exist. If you accept people as they are, then in the vast majority of cases they will accept you as you are.
There are likely to be isolated issues of racism and discrimination at many universities. Queen’s is no different. However, to assume that it is a conservative, racist school is just wrong. I know dozens of kids who have attended/are attending Queen’s; kids of various races and ethnicities. I have never heard of any of them experiencing racism or discrimination while there.
I would recommend that you get out and get involved in the multitude of EC opportunities that Queen’s offers and experience life in Kingston yourself, rather than listening to a few individuals or reading articles on the internet.