Racism at Lehigh?

mirrorrorrim
Fri, 22 Jan 2010 22:35:19 +0000

I’m a (white male) senior at Lehigh, and I can vouch that there is certainly some racism at Lehigh. I do not believe the institution itself is racist whatsoever, but some of its students certainly are.

Earlier this week, a “hostile and racist symbol was found scratched into the
metal surface of an elevator in one of our academic buildings” (as described by President Alice Gast in an email that went out to all students). This is not the only case either.

The most notable event concerning racism I can think of happened last year right after Obama was elected president. There were multiple reports of students shouting racial slurs at other students from their cars. Many students did not even feel safe walking home. President Gast responded by calling a town hall meeting to discuss racism at Lehigh and what we can do about it. The response was massive, with hundreds of students (may have been 1000+, I don’t remember) piling into an auditorium for the meeting.

Unfortunately, there is nothing that Lehigh can do to prevent racism (afterall, it is something that occurs person to person, not over a whole group of people), but there have been efforts by the school to educate against it and stop it. Also, it must be emphasized that the majority of students here are not racist. I’ve heard fellow students talking about racism in fraternities, but the Greek system has supposedly responded and improved substantially. There has undeniably been an effort to expell racism - it’s just not a simple task. Still, I wish students were more active against it. I feel that since it doesn’t effect many students, too many still tend to ignore it.

Also, I’d like to note that many minority students surround themselves with only fellow students belonging to the same minority and aren’t welcoming to others. This is self-imposed segregation and hinders any progress we may have in ending racism. If you aren’t willing to branch out and meet all sorts of people, you are part of the problem.