Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Barriers, Opportunities, and Outliers

In many respects, our decision to organize this Outliers Project was based on evidence that students of color are often “underrepresented” as participants in major extracurricular intellectual activities at SIUE and various other universities. We figured that an interactive, common reading project concerning reconsiderations of “success” might advance our goal of expanding scholarly participation among Haley Scholars—a group that involves a large racially and ethnically diverse mix of folks.

One thing that we’ve learned from side conversations and the comments section is that many of us struggle to identify some of the invisible barriers to success. Even Gladwell spends more time discussing the special opportunities as opposed to obstacles or challenges. We are especially less talkative about structural or institutional barriers.

So after reading Outliers, what’s something university officials could or should be thinking about in order to remove barriers to success that impede large numbers of students of color at SIUE?

Or, what's a topic that Gladwell raised concerning "special opportunities" that deserves more of our attention at SIUE, for instance, if our interest is in seeing a larger, more diverse group of students succeed?

38 comments:

Abagail Thompson said...

Some invisible barriers that officials at SIUE could address or take more notice to is the raical barrier amonst whites and blacks. One young man in our last blogging post stated that black organizations bluntly state that they are black organizations, while Caucasians do not. Professor Rambsy replied stating that yes, this fact was true, but simply because white organizations didn't have to state that they were white, it could just be visibly seen. I feel that if American Americans on this campus didn't feel like SIUE's school system treated them less than caucasians, they wouldn't have to boldly state that they are a black organization. If things were more fair, they wouldn't even have to form a balck organization. Because things aren't always fairly done for African Americans, they must do for themselves. This applies to more than just race. Christian organizations blantanly state who they are, because they are the minority and want their voice to be hear. Having white organizations here on SIUE's campus or any campus for that matter is a given. For minorities, it has to be a "taken."
I feel that once race and color becomes less of an issue, than the invisible barriers that hinder students of different races will not be such a problem.

Keondra Walker said...

I'm not exactly sure what barriers SIUE could remove for this, but one area of this university that I feel has a barrier that impedes a large number of students of color is the nursing program. I work for the newspaper and someone was looking up graduating statistics for a possible article (and I may be completely wrong so no one quote me on this) but I believe someone said that there was only one African-American male student that had graduated from the nursing program in the past couple years. Just one. There are not many people of color in this program even now, and there has to be some way to get these numbers up. I have sat in some of my nursing classes that has contained anywhere from 30-50 students and have been the only black student in there. I'm not exactly sure how SIUE can help this issue, but it should be something done.

Daniel Shields said...

After reading "Outliers", I believe that some things that university officials should take a closer look at is ,preparing freshman in college for the real world. After highschool many students still dont have the skills needed to succeed in college. One topic that we have spoken about is "practical intelligence". I still think about that topic frequently. Many minority students, though extremely smart and goal oriented, lack the ability to communicate in a professional way.I believe that before you are able to even begin your learning experience that is something that needs to be taught and applied to everyday life.

I also think that college officials should look into training teachers to be more relateable to students. I remember discussing PDI, and I think that courses with instructors that have a low PDI would lead to higher success rates in students.

After reading this book, I have noticed soo many things that I was blined to before. I honestly believe that this reading should be a requiered text for minority freshman.If I was givin this book to read when I entered college, I do believe that would be in better shape than I am in now.

Shawn C. said...

We all think of barriers as nothing more than something in our way on our path to greatness. Where I come from there are barriers every where for a young African American male, mainly due the fact that my town is a very small white community. With regards to that, when I came to SIUE the barriers seemed to go away, and for the first time I truly had a chance to see what the path looked like without barriers.

I am aware that some of you will read this and disagree, but that is the beauty of a blog it allows us to compare ideas. I am sure if we comb hard enough that we can find barriers here at SIUE, but I believe that barriers are more set in place by ourselves than by other. So if you see one thing as a barrier I may not agree.

For my final statement I think something that has helped with the depletion of barriers is the Haley Scholars program. By installing this program and giving the under represented demographic a voice, we are now seen as another above average student, we are scholars, something truly to be proud of. Now with this feeling even if we do encounter barriers, we will be more readily prepared to overcome them and continue on our path.

Rohan Genge said...

One of the biggest barriers for me was the cost of college education and I am sure many other students can agree with me as well. The high cost of education limits many capable students of color from reaching their potential. The Johnetta Haley scholarship helped me in a number of ways and it allowed me to attend this university.

One of the best things SIUE could do to limit the number of barriers for students of color is to expand the Johnetta Haley program. Making this scholarship avaliable to more students will help increase the number of minority students in this college and it will help them succeed as well.

Aurelia Daniels said...

Some barriers that could be addressed are that of differences in financial state. This is not just true for SIUE but of other universities as well. Those that are fortunate enough to have money are here at school with no worries of anything but their school work. However, those of us that don't have the luxury to pay cash down for our education have to worry not only about our school work but the hassle of whether our financial aid will come through or if or parent will have to miss out on a mortgage payment in order to pay our outstanding bill.

This is to me a barrier because it put those that have money one step ahead of us because of our financial state. I think that if the university worked hard to help student through the financial aid process it would make that barrier just a little bit easier to get over.

I don't think that anyone should have to suffer when trying to better themselves and with the way that the financial aid process is now, I think that is it set up to be a punishment for needing help rather than a jumpstart for a better future.

Samantha Martin said...

I think that more emphasis should be put on intellectal groups like honor sororities/fraternities and the dean's list that emcompasses people of all races, and all genders. These groups should be celebrated for bring together people that take their education seriously and are excelling every single day.

The existence of academic programs like Johnetta Haley are illustrating a large group of academically successful people of color. It would be beneficial to offer our assistance as a group to others that need a push toward success, maybe an a sponsored event or having meetings in which we allow those interested in being a part to join in. This would be a force to be reckoned with, because people who have a taste of success could help others who may have never had that chance without exposure to the Haleys.

Charnelle M said...

A barrier that impedes the success of students of color at SIUE is that many of them are not prepared to do what it takes to succeed in college. Every race has people that are not prepared for college but students of color have more problems trying to adjust, especially when they are not sure of what will be required of them. Even people that do well throughout high school sometimes have trouble trying to get used to how classes work in college. In the book, Gladwell talked about how this is not enough to succeed in life. I think that the university does what it can to try and accommodate the needs of these students but it is a barrier that can impede success.

Unknown said...

I agree hugey with Shawn C. I also believe that we set our own barriers and that there is really nothing that prohibits us from doing as we please. Abigail Thompson also brings this up in a way by saying that "once race and color becomes less of an issue, the invisibl barriers that hinder students of different races will not be such a problem." I fully believe that once people get past the barriers that people put up due to a persons ethnicity, that everything is easy going from there. When I took my first campus tour and asked about the ethnical breakup of the school was, my mom and I laughed when they told us there were no other Natie American students. I was curious as to how diversified the school was, and this statistic made me think about how few Native Americans attend a four year college and graduate. I feel that if less N.A.s thought about the facts that show how few of us go on to further our education, that it would be a more attainable goal. The Jonhetta Haley scholarship provides the perfect opportunity and I wish that it could be extended out to more students so they would be encouraged to continue on from high school to college.
Jamie Mueller

Robyn Rhone said...

I think most importantly there should be more diverse groups/organization at SIUE. I am the type of person who believes that we should all ( differenct races) work together. Another thing that bothers me is that most students stick within their comfort zone, and would more than likely prefer to work with other students of similar backgrounds. I think teachers should stress the importance of branching out and meeting new people in the classroom and life in general. It seems like we are stuck in a box. And to comment on what Keondra said, from what i heard a lot of minorites dont get into the nursing program. I cant say why this is becuase i am not on the admissions board, but im quite sure a great number of them are qulified to be in there. I think something should be done about this as well. I also agree with what daniel said, this should be a required reading.

Brent Hitchens said...

I believe that the most difficult thing when entering college is the adjustment from high school to a four year university. This drastic change can have a significant impact on new students who try to better themselves by going to college. This is a tremendous barrier that needs to be brought down in order to achieve success academically. A better transition could be accomplished by university officials and this way students, particularly minority students, can benefit from that.

Christen Maul said...

Some of the ways these barriers could be addressed at our school is creating an environment geared towards the success of all students of all races. I think it would be interesting to see what the difference would be if in all students' freshman year, they had to take a class in which they read Outliers and discussed these issues. My eyes have been opened to a lot through this project and I'm sure it would be beneficial to have seen from the very beginning of my college career.
I would like to see more diverse of organizations at SIUE. Organizations that didn't focus on our barriers, but our successes and what each individual has to offer to this school.

Tricia Johnson said...

I agree with Keondra. I see the same thing in the Early Childhood Education program. There are now 2 sections of the program and 60 students, and I am the only African American. There is also a Mexican lady and a Middle Eastern guy too.I was speaking with a principal the other day and I mentioned that to her. The first thing she said was "How in the world is that possible?" Then the next thing she said was "I would like to see what that pool of applicants looked like."
I'm not sure if this is something that the university could fix, but I do think that it's something that could be addressed. I think it's interesting that there are not a lot of minorities in these programs. Is there just a lack of interest by the students, or are there some institutional barriers that need to be addressed?

Unknown said...

I think that one barrier that the university can work on is teaching the students about financial aid. This a big barrier because most african american students have financial aid to attend college. It seems like at the beg of every semesters most of the students in our community are not financially cleared. These students classes get dropped or the students have to drop out all together. Most students don't understand that financial aid is based on the classes u take each semester and if you dont pass 67% of these classes or you dropp classes to make it impossible to pass the mandated % then you will lose your fin. aid for up to a year.

Wesley Sloan said...

I think one of the biggest barriers that impedes students of color here at SIUE is the financial demand. Rohan touched on the subject and mentioned expanding the Johnetta Haley scholarship which i wholeheartedly agree with. The more minorities it can reach out to, the better off they will be in the future. Avoiding college because of the tuition cost will limit future minority students' ability to rise up and be recognized in society. I don't know how realistic expanding the scholarship would be however because that would require more funding for the scholarship. So in that sense, the barrier is the amount of money able to be given out to students who need it. Something that i think could improve racial barriers is to make it mandatory for black and white dominate organizations to meet up and interact with each other once in a while. Racial tensions will probably never be soothed if SIUE's organizations continue to act as independent racial groups. Communicating and understanding one another will lead the way to harmony.

Chardae Gray said...

As African Americans it is a statistic that we are the minorities in all college/university setting's with the exception of historically black colleges. I can not pick out a certain issue that I may have faced in regards to education based solely on my ethnicity/race.I feel that SIUE does a good job of treating everyone fairly and equal. At the end of the day I think that a person's drive,determination and worth ethic mainly determines their success. In earlier times there were many successful black entrepreneurs,doctors,lawyers who paved their own path to success.I think we are lucky to have the opportunity to obtain higher education and shouldn't take that for granted because many people don't.Many programs and opportunities are available for us currently on this campus,we may just not know about them or take advantage of them.

Kelly Quon said...

As an female of asian descent, I do not sense any racial barriers at SIUE that affect me. I do know that there are white, black, and hispanic frats and that itself is a racial barrier. I agree that once race becomes less of an issue, there will less racial barriers. Since I have been here I have not noticed very many racial barriers other than the racial organizations.

Increasing the number of programs like the Johnetta Haley will help minorities be noticed more and help encourage them to pursue success. People come from all types of backgrounds and programs like this help them adjust to the college setting easier. Through this program I have learned no matter where an individual is from, success can be achieved. More organizations should be created to help support minorities to achieve success.

Brittney Spiller said...

Extending on what Keondra said, I feel that not only SIUE but other universities should really concentrate on expanding their multicultural backgrounds. Similar to the situation with the the nursing program, the Speech-Language Pathology program experiences the same problem. Being one of the three non-whites in the undergrad program has made me realize this. A large portion of our classes discuss how ASHA is always looking for diverse SLP's. I feel that maybe if other cultures were approached in high school about these specific fields, and created an interest, we may not have these problems. We need to recognize our differences yet realize that we are capable of coexisting.

Taleah J said...

University Officials should develope more scholarship and job opportunites for minorites at SIUE. Finances play a major role in student drop out rates. It's expensive to attend college which discourages alot of students.
I agree with paris because there is alot of information about financial aid that minority students don't know about. Or students find out about after it too late to apply. Univerity officials need to address the lack of knowledge of financial aid.

Unknown said...

After reading outliers and my peer's remarks, I feel SIUE is on the right track about educating us about diversity and the need to further develop these ties. I have enjoyed reading everyone's opinions on each topic and am proud to be a part of this group. I think that Taleah J was correct in the need for the University to further educate ALL of its students about financial aid opportunities. If we are trying to achieve equality among races and gender then we need equality on scholarship opportunities as well. Race or gender should not be on the form, just the need to help! I know that there are a lot of opportunities out there that I did not know about 4 years ago. As a freshmen, I knew nothing. We should work the academic development class into each freshman's course load and talk about financial aid.
Adam Schneider

Ashley Wilson said...

I don't know if the university is able to have a real effect dealing with minorities because we are treated a certain way everyday of our lives outside of the university. But, I am a student in the accelerated nursing program. There are a total of three black people in my class. Although I tend to see black and white differences, there are a lack of other ethnic groups represented as well. I'm not sure if this problem can be addressed by the university or not. It could just be there is a lack of interest for minorities to choose this type of program. More importantly, I feel that the Outliers book has given us a new way to look at life. Success does not have to be the same for eveyone. So to address the problem of little diversity within the nursing program, it might just be successful that one or two minorities graduate from the program every year and to recommend the program to others. We also have to remember that there are more than two ethnic groups in the world. It's not just under representation of blacks compared to whites, it is more of a concern of all ethnicities.

Glennda Lyles said...

One of the things university officials could do to remove barriers of success for minority students is to increase the amount of interaction and involvement between the university and students. During my senior year of high school, I can still remember trying to make decisions between the different college offers I received. One of the things I liked about SIUE is that they were interactive with me and showed a strong interest. They were sending me mail and inviting me to various events. They displayed a strong student-university relationship. However, it seems like most of this tampered off after my first couple months of school. I think university officials need to make sure not to only show interest and involvement in their students at the beginning of the process but rather throughout the entire college experience. After the first semester of my freshman year, I noticed that several students that I met did not return and the next year this number seemed to increase even more. University officials need to not only focus on getting minority students to come to college but also focus on keeping them enrolled and ensuring that they gradute as well.

I also agree with some of the previous students in that the high cost of tuition, housing, student fees, etc. are huge barriers. In order to decrease these barriers university officials should try to make more scholarships and grants available. Education is something that is needed to survive in today's society and everyone should have have an equal opportunity despite the costs.

Anonymous said...

Ashley O.
At times I feel like I am a step behind when it comes to different opportunities and programs for my major because I either don't know the right people to find out or I don't see the fliers for these opportunites. It also bothers me that many students come in their freshman year with dual credits of 15+ credits which saves them money and time. I think that the minority recruiters should pressure the importance of this to prospective students. Also there is a very low population of African American professors in core subjects like Chemistry, Biology or Math, I say this because it is easier to relate with someone of your own color and it also shows that SIUE is diverse in its hiring process. I doubt that there arent any African Americans who do lack the credentials to teach at college on a higher level in these subjects so why not hire them. A lot of people have touched on the subject of the great lack of diversity in different majors this makes me wonder if the aapplication process is fair and/or do they just accept one or two students of color just to meet their annual quota.

Amber Lewis said...

To piggy back on Samantha, I also think that the universities should honor all clubs, groups, organizations, and other types of groups. I also think that the FAME and GAME program should go out to all of the freshmen instead of those of color. Of course it wouldn't be FAME and GAME but the oppurtunities given to me when I was a freshman would help benefit other students along the way. It helps you build a relationship with your advisors and teachers(Coop and Dr. P and Prof.Rambsy) that will last a lifetime.

Clifford Rush III said...

Clifford Rush III,

I would say the barrier that would affect most people would be the finances. The fact it cost a lot to go to college, even though SIUE is very cheap, would impede success. The cost of living is forcing many students to work while going to school and to have large amounts of loans. This struggle will force students to not focus on their studies and reduce the grades of students on average. Although, these students might not study even if their jobs were taking away but this is a problem due to the rising prices of everything.

Reductions in educational prices and scholarship opportunities would help reduces students need for employment or reduce the time they work. This would benefit them academically.

Denita Campbell said...

I believe that a big barrier that SIUE should address is the disporportion of whites and blacks in the school overall. So I feel for this reason there will always be a imbalance of opportunites at SIUE.But the Johnetta Haley Scholarship has been an opportunity for students of all races to come together and share their intellectual knowledge. Outliers helped us a an intellectual society to observe some issues that we might have been blinded to and address them so we can also help others be successful.

N.L.W. said...

I believe Abagail made a very good point. African Americans are not always treated fairly. At my last school that was predominately white, I was a member on the dance team and I was the only one of color. It didn't bother me in the beginning because I didn't care much for race, but after a while I began to feel as though I wasn't welcomed or wanted. I tried to be open with my teammates but it didn't really seem to work. They hung out outside of practice, never invited me once, and spoke to me when they had to. I didn't like the feeling of being an outcast so I quit. When I transferred to SIUE, the first thing I did as a dancer, was to seek out the dance team. Once I got to tryouts hoping there would be more diversity, I saw that once again I was the only minority. I just kept thing "Not Again," so I hesitated on trying out and left. So feel like it is good to have programs targeted toward minorities so that they feel like they are welcomed and know that they others to relate to so that they are not left out. Although, I do believe that SIUE does a great job of providing organizations for minorities.
I also agree with Robyn. Everyone should work together and branch out more. The first thing that I noticed when I came here to SIUE was that everyone is click-ish and likes to stay within their groups. I can't stand that. I like to mingle and relate to different people of all races and backgrounds. I'm not sure if anything can be done about that. You can't force people to change they have to want to change themselves. With time we can try to diversify more programs and hope for the best.

-Nia Williams

Kamrey Mcnutt said...

Something that university officials should be thinking about to remove barriers to success is scholarship opportunities. SIUE does not offer enough scholarships to minority students. One of the main reasons students of color fail to attend or finish college is because they don’t have the funds to do so. I have witnessed many goal oriented African Americans waste talent and skill due to their inability to pay for college and expand their education. This explains the low percentage of African Americans in just about every University other than HBCU’s. SIUE should really consider offering more scholarships to students of color. This will encourage more African Americans to attend SIUE, along with give them hope of success. SIUE will benefit from this by developing a more diverse student body.

Paris Owens said...

At SIUE, I don’t really feel that barriers exist. I grew up in a small, predominantly white town. Technically, it’s a village, I suppose. Barriers felt real there. There were obstacles to making the middle school basketball team, high school cheerleading squad, and sometimes driving home. Also, I believe that barriers are relative to the person who is experiencing them. It depends on the context of what is going on around the person perceiving the barrier. I am a junior in the School of Nursing. I was accepted the first time that I applied. I truly believe the university when they say that entrance is based upon GPA. As for lack of minority representation, I’m not really sure how to go about increasing that. Or perhaps there is a lack of interest. In taking the prerequisite classes freshman year there was not a great showing of minorities in the lectures.
A barrier that is common for many college students is the lack of funds. Yes, going to college is one of the most valuable investments one can make. But, paying for that investment is the tricky part. The possibility of being dropped from classes if financial aid doesn’t come through is a cold thought. Students are forced to hunt and peck for money to go to college. Even getting a loan to pay for college expenses outside of tuition has gotten difficult due to the state of our economy. It’s dizzying and dreadful trying to allot money down to the dime for classes, food, and possibly rent. Receiving this scholarship has calmed my nerves significantly. The Johnetta Haley Program is not only a reward for academic success, but it also encourages its continuation.

Alycia Peebles said...

I agree with Abagail Thompson when it comes to black organizations. We oraganiztions on campus were more fair and diverse then we wouldnt have to bluntly state that we are a black organztion. We dont have organzations on campus that are white organiztions, they are just organiztions to me that are stereotyped.
Opportunities for success on campus to me is not always visible. Networking and just becoming involved at the campus opens up more doors and more successful opportunities. I have ran into so many people that come to thee campus and leave after class and did not know anything about where to get specific sholarships or how to participate in program that relatd to them and so I offered them many helpful sources. To me, i believe that anyone could be an outlier if their mind s geared toward success.

R. Connor said...

Like it was previously stated in other posts I do feel that not only minorities but a lot of students have a hard time adjusting from high school to college. Since students come from different high schools there is no real way to determine if a student had been prepared for college material. Maybe university officials could add a portion to the website that has sample research papers, copies of syllabi, and other resources that incoming freshman could use so they have an idea of what is expected of them before they begin classes at the college level.

Also I do notice a growing trend with a lot of students having financial troubles and not being able to continue school for a period of time. I'd like to see more assistance for students with financial aid problems.

One last thing I could suggest would be for even more organizations and activities to be offered geared towards minorities. Not only would it promote intellectual stimulation but would give more options so that everyone could find something they are interested in. Also in turn hopefully that would attract even more minorities to the school.

tiawanathomas said...

I think that some of the barriers can be broken if officials would consider making it mandatory for minorities to be apart of social events. Sometimes minorities will exclude themselves from the majority because they may feel as if they cannot relate to them. Socialization skill are very important along any successful path.

Katrina Sivels said...

After reading Outliers, I see that there are barriers but barriers should not stop you. I saw this in the story about Jewish lawyers and the belief about Jewish people during the Great Depression. You take the opportunities you are given and you make your own also.

Often times people say that there are barriers but this cannot be true when so many are successful and prosper. They take those barriers and drive through them as if they are not there because they are not there for them.

I've learned from outliers that it is the underdogs and the people that are considered outliers that are the truly successful ones. Everyone has a history and most have a hard one. It's how you use it. Barriers are created by people. Racial barriers are created by people and once we let those barriers down extraordinary things can happen.

Unknown said...

Erik Sanders

I feel that one thing university officials could do to remove barriers to success is to eliminate areas where people fill out race and gender. I feel that if everyone is evaluated based on their merits and accolades alone that it will make for equal competition. This system could be applied to financial aid, scholarships, and job opportunities. It would be interesting to see the distribution of those things if this process was to be implemented.

TaNeal Walls said...

I believe a barrier that SIUE could break would making it imperitive for professors to be more involved with students on an individual basis. I know some classes are larger than others but the ones that only contain 15-20 people should no doubt have a closer relationship. I am in a class now where there are only 16 of us and none of us have a strong understanding of what is expected of us. We e-mail, try to speak one on one, and even try to ask questions in class. However, still none of us ever have a true understanding of our expectations.

Another barrier I think needs to be broken is the relationship that RA'S try to make with the residents in their wing. I can tell that some really "want" to have that relationship, however they don't actually persue it. Sometimes I feel left out when I see some residents are connecting and favored by their RA'S more than me. I don't feel as if I should have to go above and beyond to get the same treatment as them when everyone should be treated equal.

Lastly, I agree with many of the previous bloggers. More programs like the Haley Scholarship should be available. This program has provided me not only with money to aid me during my college experience but it is also promoting higher education. By reading Outliers I have expanded my knowledge on concepts that I used to be ignorant to. So instead of writing essays on why "you are the best candidate" for so and so scholarship or "what you want to do with your college education," I think the Haley Scholarship has done a magnificant job by putting our dedication to the test and making us work for what we deserve.

Natalia Haibibi said...

I don't feel that there are any barriers, so far i feel that I am pretty well-accepted. Even though I am Lebanese, which is not that common of the ethnicity to find, I have met another Lebanese student who is also pre-dental. Although there is only one other that I know of, that is pretty amazing to me considering I have only met three other Lebanese students here at SIUE.
Teachers are also very accommodating with different cultures, especially with my language appreciation class. Of course there is always more to be done, but i think that SIUE has done a very good job on its part.

Olufunmilola Ajala said...

I agree with Shawn C. I believe that most barriers are within ourselves. I believe that we create our own barriers and don't realize it. As a minority, we may feel that there is a certain barrier that stops us from being able to do or participate in certain activities or events. However, I do believe that SIUE and other universities should provide or encourage more social activities and events that allow people of different cultures and ethnicities to become more familiar with each other. Being a student at SIUE, I have never allowed any barriers prevent me from succeeding at SIUE.

Jermel said...

I do believe that we create our own barriers and don't even realize it. I think that from an early age we are taught that we black people have to work twice as hard to get half as far. While I think that is true, I feel that sometimes we blow it out of proportion. The black people who are here have been given the opportunity few have so we must have been something right to make it this far. We just have to stay focused and continue to succeed.
As far as SIUE is concerned, I do think there are some major barriers within classes and other aspects of the campus. Being one of few black males in the chemistry department I sometimes feel that teachers have a predetermined notion that I am going to slack off or not be as intelligent as the other students in my class. I don’t have the relationship with some of my teachers as I would like to have.
I noticed someone wrote about RAs and their relationship with their residents. While I agree with her statement, I think it extends further than that. It reaches to University Housing as a whole. There have been several minority students who have expressed a strong dislike for university housing because they feel that whites are favored when it comes to disciplinary actions. I can say from working with University Housing that they give off the perception to favor the whites. They need to take the training in which they give to RAs and utilize it for themselves as well.