<p>Great question, detpeace. Vladdenschutte is on the money when (s)he says people keep with their own. I was recruited pretty heavily by a handful of cultural, ethnic, and religious clubs several weeks before my first classes started. That’s not an uncommon experience for Wolverines of color. By senior year students, especially the ones involved in the social justice scene, see a need for a “safe space for identity X” and go about creating and populating the space with people of similar backgrounds (often underclassmen). If you wanted to replicate the HBCU experience (outside the classroom, anyway) you could likely do so using student groups.</p>
<p>Racism hasn’t died out in Ann Arbor. No, we don’t have Governor Snyder channelling George Wallace, and I like to think that we’re a fairly respectful bunch of people. But if you listen hard enough you’ll hear ugly things said about black students. “Microaggressions” describes a share of these and other unpleasant interactions. How you fare will vary depending on what you choose to focus on as well as what resources (MESA, CAPS, OSCR, etc.) you avail yourself of.</p>