Sharing diversity

Blacks are known as a minority to the mainstream population, but at N.C. Central University, they are the majority, and whites are the minority. And without even trying, they stand out.

So what is their experience like?

“I feel like a part of NCCU. I’m an Eagle,” said education junior Josh Bradley.

“I’m not any different than anybody else. If this were the 50s, I too would think that choosing to go to school here is strange,” he said.

“This is 2010 though, and it shouldn’t be a big deal. I’m like everybody else — a young person trying to get an education to better myself.”

Bradley, who is from Asheville, said he chose NCCU for its jazz studies program. He said he grew up in a predominately white neighborhood and that grants, scholarships and financial aid are paying for his education.

Of NCCU’s 8,035 students, there are about 850 white students. About 1,000 students classified themselves as “other.”

The number of white students has steadily been increasing at North Carolina HBCUs.

For example, Winston-Salem State University had 448 white students 10 years ago. It now has about 700.

Fayetteville State University had 848 white students in 2004, but now has over 1,000.

Bradley said he doesn’t feel isolated but that he sometimes feels uncomfortable when people stare at him and his African- American girlfriend.

Bradley said that sometimes he feels that other students prejudge him for attending NCCU.

Despite this, he said he encourages friends to attend NCCU.

Athletic training freshman Karim Corringham came to NCCU from Toronto, Canada on a full golf scholarship.

Corringham comes from a mixed family and a racially- diverse neighborhood.

“Coming from a mixed family, I feel comfortable on campus,” said Corringham.

Like Bradley, Corringham said he thinks some Eagles may prejudge him.

“People that don’t know me ignore me until my friends ask them why they are doing that,” he said. “After they get to know me, it’s not a problem.”

Corringham said he sometimes feels that professors treat him differently because he is white.

“At times, I was chosen a lot more over other students in discussion, even when I hadn’t raised my hand,” said Corringham.

“It also seemed like ‘let’s hear what the Caucasian guy has to say about this,’ as if my view would be completely different.”

Corringham said he likes participating in class but sometimes feels that he isn’t always being called upon “for the right reasons.”

At other times, he explained, “I would just be overlooked time and time again since the beginning of class.”

Corringham said he does feel isolated from time to time, but that this is probably because he is so far away from his home in Toronto.

“You are just like every other student. Your personality, character and grades should determine how you are seen,” said Corringham.

Mass communication junior Brian Moulton grew up in a predominately white suburb of Washington, D.C.

He chose NCCU because it is close to where he now lives and for the grants and scholarships that are paying for his education.

“I was a little concerned about fitting in, and I felt some tension from students, but after we got to know each other, that disappeared,” said Moulton.

Moulton said he feels that students prejudge him as well and sometimes gets asked why he didn’t go to UNC Chapel-Hill.

Moulton, who works at AudioNet and the Campus Echo, said his involvement makes him feel like he belongs.

“I am here to succeed and make things happen in my life,” said Moulton.

Elementary education junior Christi Wall said she has attended some diverse schools and some not-so-diverse schools growing up in Findlay, Ohio.

Wall, who is from Creedmoor, said grants and  out-of-pocket money are paying for her education.

“My first couple of weeks in class, I felt completely unnerved,” said Wall.

She said an experience at Winston-Salem State University four years ago may have had something to do with it.

“I was at WSSU four or five years ago, and there was not a great reception at all,” said Wall.

“I was basically ignored for the most part. I took full classes. I pretty much sat in the back of all the classes and didn’t speak unless I was forced to.”

“This school has been extremely welcoming,” she said.

“From the students, all the way to the academic advisers, to everybody I’ve met––it’s a completely different experience,” said Wall.

“Our differences are only skin deep,” she said.