3 Reasons why there is a lack of minorities on Christian College Campuses

I was having a discussion with one of my friends and other RD Austin and the topic of minorities on our campus came up. I came up with a theory of why all Christian Colleges are lacking in this area, and since I don't want to forget my theory, and because I thought the ideas were pretty good I thought I'd share them, so here we go.

1. The cost of a Christian College Education is high.
The new trend in higher education right now especially since our economy is not doing so hot is to attend Jr. College first and then transfer to a 4 year institution. If students are trying save money on State College tuition where does that leave private liberal arts institutions? Most minority students come from lower middle class or lower class families. To be able to afford a private college education would be a stretch.

2. Many minority students are not academically prepared for a Liberal Arts Education.
Speaking from my own experience, I grew up in a suburb of Los Angeles, went to public school my whole life and was in a very good school district. I did fairly well in High School academically but never really applied myself. I struggled mightily when I attended Gordon. I was not prepared at all for the work load, and expectations that my professors had for me. I am just now learning how to study as a graduate student. If I struggled academically coming from a good school district, where does that leave students who come from bad school districts?

The majority of minority students will be found in highly populated areas in and around major cities. The majority of public schools in urban areas are struggling to prepare there students academically. Students are being taught how to pass standardized tests rather than learning knowledge and information that would prove to be useful as they continue to grow physically and mentally. If a student can achieve high marks at their particular school, it doesn't necessarily mean that they are prepared to do well in college, especially at a small private college.

3. Minorities need to be highly adaptable and or have a missionary mindset in order to succeed at a Christian College.
As a minority attending Gordon I had no idea what I was getting into. I grew up in one of most diverse cities in the world and all of sudden my surroundings were the polar opposite. The majority of people around me were caucasian (90%). I had a couple of options at this point.

a. I could adapt to my surroundings and be willing and open to share my experiences and knowledge to other students. With a proper attitude of grace, meaning that I had to recognize that some students might say offensive things but had to recognize that the intent was not to be mean but out of ignorance/innocence.

b. Fully adapt, and not recognize my culture but embrace the majority culture (This is probably the most easiest for Asian students compared to other etnicities). This mentality would look something like this...I'm surrounded by white people, and I am comfortable with white culture, so I will not make race or culture an issue and continue to not step on toes and live as white as possible.

c. Unadapt and embrace my own culture i.e. challenge the status quo and die trying. This would mean fully embracing your racial or ethnic culture and let the majority culture influence you as little as possible. The problem with this option is that the mentality of having a proper attitude of grace mentioned in option a. is usually not taken. This is where the rub comes. White students would view these students as very ethnocentric and over-sensitive to racial issues, maybe to the point where small issues would be turned into much bigger ones.

So what is the solution?

The first obstacle of finances is going to be an ongoing problem for the rest of our lives and for generations to come. To Gordon's credit they did establish a program called the Clarendon Scholars Program for more information about it click here...http://www.gordon.edu/clarendonscholars
The challenge for Christian Colleges is that finances are always tight, especially when they are tuition driven. But if they begin to take a risk and expand the pool of which they try to attract students to markets of students of all types of backgrounds and ethinicities, then the challenge of getting in the numbers will be easier. If you have a bigger pond, there are more fish, more fish means it's easier to catch them...Yes you might be use to trout, but tuna and salmon taste pretty good too.

The second obstacle and third obstacle go hand in hand I believe. This initiative needs to start from the top down, meaning upper administration and board members need to make diversity a priority because major changes need to happen in order to fix these obstacles. Here are some things that I think need to happen at Christian Colleges in order for us to see a major change.

The obvious answer is that there needs to be more of a presence of minorities on faculty and staff. Students need to be able to go to professors of there own ethnicity and culture. This was vital for me at Gordon. I had one professor who was Chinese. She understood the cultural battle I was going through with my parents and was vital in my choices in the career path I took as well as helping me to graduate from college.

Professors need to adapt and change their way of thinking. Tim Clydesdale, author of "First Year Out" mentions the idea that the true academic student is a rare bread. Meaning the student that comes to college to purely learn, and gain knowledge to be a more well rounded person is few and far between. The majority of students come to college because it's just the next step after high school and it will get them a higher paying job. Am I saying that academic standards need to come down? Absolutely not. But the way we teach things does need to change. The lecture and note method isn't as effective anymore, especially to students who grew up in a urban public education system. Interactive learning, and other new creative ways to teach, needs to be the next step for ALL college students not just minorities to succeed.

Administration needs to continue to push diversity programs and racial reconciliation. I don't know how to sugarcoat this so I won't. White students think that racial problems do not exist because they haven't dealt with it first hand (because everyone looks and talks like them). This also means that faculty need to buy in to the fact that diversity is a problem on Christian Campuses. The more Christian Colleges do to recognize that there is a problem the more minority students will notice. It's ugly, it's messy, but it's so worth it. What does it say about the kingdom of God when our Christian product of education can't attract different cultures and races? We're not only failing other cultures but we are failing our students right now, for not giving them a proper perspective of what the world has to offer.

"Light Bulb" Moment

"Don't program just to program" I said to the RA's. Trying to plea to them the idea that if you're passionate about being an RA and what you do, you won't look at programs as a task to check off but something that you desire to do because it will help fulfill your passion. It then hit me personally...how often do I do things because I have to or just to check them off? I love building relationships with students. How many of my requirements in my job are to enable me to build relationships? Doesn't studying make me a more knowledgeble and a well rounded RD? Doesn't putting on hall programs allow me to spend time with students in my building? I then thought about how I need to apply this thought process into my whole life.
My passion for God...
Shouldn't I want to read scripture so I can know him better? I have always struggled with reading scripture and felt guilty because as a Christian I should read the bible everyday. I was looking at this virtue and pulling it down into a worldly level, as a task I needed to do, and often failed to do. I always heard about others and their challenge to desire to want to know God more, and how reading scripture was something you should want to do. I always balked at that idea, why would I desire to do something that I can't make a priority.

This reminds me of a scene in the movie "The Breakup"

Brooke and Gary get into a fight after hosting a dinner for Brooke's family. Gary immediately goes to the living room to play video games after the guests leave. Brooke get's frustrated with Gary because she just cooked a meal and there are dishes piled up in the kitchen. (Gary is somewhat justified for just wanting to relax because he came from a long hard day at work...)
The fight escalates and Gary reluctantly says something like, "ok, ok, I'll do the damn dishes." Brooke then says, "I don't want you to just do the dishes I want you to want to clean the dishes."
Then Gary yells..."Why I would I ever WANT to clean the dishes?"

It's true...why would anyone ever want to do the dishes? But at the same time, if you love someone and know how hard they have worked, you should desire to help them and serve them in any way possible....i.e. to want to clean the dishes. Gary eventually learns this lesson, after he loses Brooke and tells her "It's not about doing the things you love, it's about doing things with the one you love! "

Camp....loved it

So I've been back from camp for about 2 weeks. I started RD training and have been trying to recover physically from a long, tiring, but awesome summer. This summer was a special one because it was my first time back since 2005. I think the craziest and sweetest part about being back was seeing old campers that I worked with now serving on Leadership, as Kitchen Crew Disciplers and Counselors. It was also kind of nice to have some structure to my day. Yes, you might think I'm crazy, but it was nice to get into the habit of getting up at 7 everyday. The days are long at camp, but they fly, just like the weeks, and the months. All of sudden I was done at camp again, and I didn't even realize it.
3rd term was a special one because my parents came out and served. My mom was the camp nurse and my Dad helped out with grounds for 2 weeks. Although it was a really rough start for my Dad, I am really thankful and grateful that they got to experience camp. It's so difficult to explain what happens there, so a lot people assume it's some type of cult (not joking), but for my parents to experience competions betweens Romans and Galatians, Summer Life Nights, Surprise Night, the Wrestling Meet etc...was priceless. They definitely saw that God was working at camp through the counselors and the campers and they saw that I wasn't wasting my summers when I was in college.

By Your Side by Tenth Ave North

Why are you striving these days
Why are you trying to earn grace
Why are you crying
Let me lift up your face
Just don't turn away

Why are you looking for love
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough
To where will you go child
Tell me where will you run
To where will you run

And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Look at these hands and my side
They swallowed the grave on that night
When I drank the world's sin
So I could carry you in
And give you life
I want to give you life

Cause I, I love you
I want you to know
That I, I love you
I'll never let you go

A deep breath and peace

So I realize that my last entry was a little extreme. To those of you who follow my blog and have no idea what's going on, I apologize, I tend to get a little dramatic at times. I'm fine. Call me if you're really that curious. This past Sunday I flew out to LA for a little vacation at home. On Monday I got the great opportunity to sleep in my own bed at home and to sleep in. I ate lunch with my Mom and Dad and then I got to go to my favorite coffee shop, Buster's in South Pas.

Flashback....I don't know what it is about Buster's, but I think a lot of the nostalgia I have for it has a lot to do with that they offer some sweet alternatives to coffee. As a Junior High kid I didn't care for coffee, but at Buster's I had plenty of choices between Lime Rickey's, Italian Soda's and Root Beer/ Sherbert Freeze's. As a kid in Junior High, it was sweet to go to a place like Buster's on a hot day(in SoCal almost everyday is hot) and get a Flavored Ricky. We all know that Junior High sucked, it did for me at least, so Buster's became an escape for me. I felt like a grown up there, because I spent money that I had saved up, and I could just rest and relax there without having to see other kids from school or deal with my parents.

All of the previous thoughts kind of hit me on Monday as I sat upstairs in Buster's with a cup of coffee (yes I drink coffee now) and I got to journal about what's going on in my life. Do you ever have those moments where everything is good? You really can't stress about anything because it's all kind of behind you. For instance, on Monday, I was in home in South Pasadena at Buster's with no schedule, no homework for grad school, no incident reports to write, no duty phone to cover, no meeting to attend, no real responsibility and nothing to stress about. I feel like those times of peace are little sliver's of what heaven is like. Everything is "right" (In heaven everything is right...no quotation marks, but on earth there is always something wrong even if it doesn't affect us as individuals), and God just kind of shine's his love and peace on you. I thought to myself, "God love's me, and I can't complain..."

This peace has subsided of course as the week has passed.. I continue to realize I can only take so much time with my parents...I love them to death, but there is a reason why I live across the country still. I am excited to get back to Pennsylvania because that means I get to be back at Summer's Best. I don't know if I have said this on my blog, but camp is a very special place for me. I have grown so much there in all aspects, physically, mentally, spiritually...and I get a second shot at being back there again (Most people don't get the summer's off to work at camp). Hopefully I'll get to post throughout the summer about it.

That's all I got.

dang...

I am very tired mentally, physically, and emotionally. Those of you close to me know that I have been dealing with some stuff. The song "Kindness" by Chris Tomlin has been ringing through my head lately. The chorus ends with the line "Your love, Your love, Is better than life". I know this line is SO true, but it is SO hard to really believe it sometimes. I know from my experience that God has a plan for my life and he knows what is best. Why is it so hard to realize that? How come I always convince myself that I know what is best for me? I was trying to drill in my head, that I need to trust the Lord in all of this and that he has a plan, sometimes it's not enough to pound it into your head....it still sucks. Life is still hard sometimes. I often watch the movie "Swingers" when I get down and these 2 conversations (Censored) between Mikey and his buddy Rob kind of sums up how I feel...kind of.

Mike: Okay, so what if I don't want to give up on her?
Rob: You don't call.
Mike: But you said I don't call if I wanted to give up on her.
Rob: Right.
Mike: So I don't call either way?
Rob: Right.
Mike: So what's the difference?
Rob: There is no difference right now. See, Mike, the only difference between giving up and not giving up is if you take her back when she wants to come back. But you can't do anything to make her want to come back. In fact, you can only do stuff to make her not want to come back.
Mike: So the only difference is if I forget about her or just pretend to forget about her?
Rob: Right.
Mike: Well that sucks.
Rob: Yeah, it sucks.
Mike: So it's just like a retroactive decision, then? I mean I could, like, forget about her and then when she comes back make like I just pretended to forget about her?
Rob: Right. Although probably more likely the opposite.
Mike: What do you mean?
Rob: I mean at first you're going to pretend to forget about her, you'll not call her, I don't know, whatever... but then eventually, you really will forget about her.
Mike: Well what if she comes back first?
Rob: Mmmm... see, that's the thing, is somehow they know not to come back until you really forget.
Mike: There's the rub.
Rob: There's the rub.

and this conversation...

Rob: You don't look at the things that you have, you only look at the stuff that you don't have. Those guys are right about you - you're money.
Mike: Then why won't she call?
Rob: She won't call because you left. she's got her own life to deal with, man, and that's in New York... alright? And she's a sweet girl, and I love her to pieces, but f- her, man. You gotta get on with your life. You gotta let go of the past. And Mikey, when you do, I'm telling you: the future is beautiful, alright? Look out the window. It's sunny every day here. It's like manifest destiny. Don't tell me we didn't make it. We made it! We are here. And everything that is past is prologued to this. All of the shiz that didn't kill us is only - you know, all that shiz. You're gonna get over it.
Mike: How did you get over it? I mean, how long did it take?
Rob: Sometimes it still hurts. You know how it is, man. It's like, you wake up every day and it hurts a little bit less, and then you wake up one day and it doesn't hurt at all. And the funny thing is, is that, this is kinda wierd, but it's like, it's like you almost miss that pain.
Mike: You miss the pain?
Rob: Yeah, for the same reason that you missed her... because you lived with it for so long.

It's been a while

So a lot has happened since my last entry. Over Easter Break I got to go up to Boston to see a bunch of college friends. Here are some pictures from the visit.


I don't know why I have that look on my face...maybe it was the smell of the ocean because I haven't seen it in so long...


We somehow got into jumping pictures...this one was pretty sweet.


Another jumper...kind of. That's my Baryshnikov impersonation.

The visit was really good. There is something about being face to face with friends that makes things so much better. I had some great conversations with friends and really got to spend some quality time with people that I love and miss so much.

This past Tuesday I went to my first Sox game in a couple of years. I had a good streak going for a while. Last year was the first time I did not get to see the Sox play live for first time in 8 years. So after a long year without the Sox live I got to see them play the Indians at the Jake (Sadly now Progressive Field). Unfortunately the Sox lost because of a couple of errors, but I still had a good time. Here are a couple of pictures.



Me and one of my students Tom. He was really excited...obviously.


We had pretty good seats. If this was at Fenway, I would have had to cut my left hand to sit this close.

The school year is slowly coming to an end. As I look back on the year, it has been a really good one. There have definitely been some tough moments, and I am SO ready for this Academic year to come to a close. But the good times definitely outweigh the bad. I think if the bad outweighed the good it would be time to change what I was doing.

Up next is a quick trip home to LA to get some rest and relaxation before I jump into camp. I don't know how much blogging I'll get to do over the summer. Sorry to dissapoint all 3 of you that actually read this blog...but until the next time.