StoryBooth with Steven Simmons and Yusef Ibrahim, Together RIT 2022, 2022-10-21

Partial Transcript: Steven Simmons [00:00:11]: Today's date is October 21, 2022. And we're here to talk a little bit about our experience here as students of color at a predominately white institution.

Partial Transcript: Yusef Ibrahim [00:00:21]: So my experience as a person of color at a predominately white institution, it's been an overall mostly positive experience at RIT. They have a lot of resources that let you talk about diversity and inclusion. Have a lot of clubs--whether that be student-led groups, or just, like, organizations like, National Society of Black Engineers, NSBE. Organization of African Students, OAS. And then there's ALANA. It's a lot of different clubs and student life groups. And those just give you a lot of information, a lot of resources, whether it be scholarship information, fun events, all sorts of types of stuff like that. And then, um, just a lot of exposure. I've been exposed to many different groups of people, myself, being here at RIT. Like, it's very inclusive, and it can be a great place.

Steven Simmons [00:01:03]: Yeah, I definitely agree with a lot of what Yusef said. A lot of the black and other like, minority groups here at RIT are excellent. They're always doing events, they're always having something to do, you know, popping in like groups, and even go to some of their office hours just to talk to people, learn a little bit about what's going on. And if you aren't a part of any of the like, email chains or the letters, please sign up. Because just because you're not a person of color, doesn't mean you can't come to some of these events. Overall, I do think that my experience here has been kind of positive, though I have run into a bit of trouble. There are some folks I know that like to crack jokes that can hit a little close to home. But at the same time, I know that they don't mean it to heart. So, I just--it's one of the things you have to deal with being at a predominately white institution. Sometimes folks come in with their boundaries. But uh, yeah, all in all, I made some really great friends, both students of color and students of the majority. Everybody here has been really cool. And I've met people like Yusef, [who] I never would have met if it wasn't for my majority friends.

Keywords: ALANA (African, Latin, Asian, Native American) Collegiate Association; National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE); Organization of African Students (OAS)

Partial Transcript: Yusef Ibrahim [00:02:03]: And then one other thing I'd like to add on, on my, like, there's a lot of diver--diversity in the teachers. [SS: Yeah.] Sometimes, um, people get this idea that it's mainly like, uh, older professors, you know. But there's a great mix. I feel like there's [professors] from all over this place, all over the world. And so you can get some good professors here as well. And who can also talk to you about different--their experiences, race and all that. So don't be afraid to reach out.

Steven Simmons [00:02:28]: Oh yeah, absolutely. Like, we've got young professors, older professors, professors who like weren't even born here. The professors who weren't born here, but they're born from like, immigrant families--there's a lot of diversity in the staff and the student populace. [YI: Mm.] I think that's really dealt--I feel like RIT, in itself, tries to actually stand up to what it means to have diversity. Whereas a lot of other schools will just promote it and put some of the books like, either--a lot on magazine--[YI: On a magazine, on a postcard]--postcard, be like, "Yeah, diversity! We got one black guy." [YI laughs] Like those old school movies.

Yusef Ibrahim [00:03:02]: Old school movies, yeah. I know what you're saying. But, that's pretty much it. [SS: Yeah.] Thank you all so much for tuning in.

Steven Simmons [00:03:10]: Yeah, we appreciate you inviting us to share a little bit about ourselves, and I can't wait to see what other things are hold here in the archive.