One student agreed that the nature of the place makes it difficult to find faculty and get help, adding that students get a distorted view from Campus Preview Weekend, due to the efforts of current students to make the community seem cohesive and welcoming. Another student suggested that we need to adopt freshmen and help them to network, this is the responsibility of upperclassmen. Perhaps the BSU can organize this effort. A professor again spoke of the work load of the faculty, adding that he hoped that students would not depend entirely on Black professors for role models, ideally all faculty will support students of color. A student argued that it is still important to have African-Americans present on the faculty.
Students come from many places and often feel isolated and insecure.
Other students agreed. While this is true, someone added, there is a larger issue that we have been skirting. What is really needed is a retraining of all faculty on how to interact with students of different cultures and backgrounds, and that there needs to be a lot more dialogue on these issues in the community as a whole. In general, people responded that all faculty should care equally about all students, but that it's important to be exposed to what kinds of success are possible for people like you, and role models provide that. Also, if a professor has had similar experiences to a particular student, they can offer the wisdom of that experience and relate to that student especially, which is different than preferential treatment.