Claiming funds and diversity
By David Wonpu
As a recent transfer student from a desolate corner of the country, I find myself constantly extolling my new environment. Santa Clara, in addition to having a gorgeous campus with great weather, gives its students access to some of the best education available. I am often impressed by instructors and fellow students, both of whom greatly enrich my learning experience.
When it comes to my social experience, however, the story is shaping up quite differently.
For example, it was with shock that I learned last week -- in the very pages of The Santa Clara and from an Associated Student senator, no less -- that Broncodom is apparently an open and supportive community of 4,000 students who hold hands and break through "imaginary" barriers together with homemade love sticks.
This is a school with a student body comprised of primarily one race and religion (and, perhaps, tax bracket). A school that graduates its business and engineering students without requiring a single ethnic or gender studies course. A school in which there is not a single tenured African-American professor. This does not sound imaginary in the slightest. In light of recent hate crimes, there are very real issues facing our school that should not be taken, or presented, lightly.
Similarly surprising is the knowledge that AS has a whopping $42,000 in discretionary funding to "dispense" to students for "any sort of academic, cultural, service or social activity."
It is inaccurate and inappropriate to advertise the discretionary funding process as one in which any small band of Broncos sharing a common interest can painlessly "claim" their share of the ersatz bounty. AS should, and does, apply a critical eye to each and every proposal.
From personal experience, both a presentation and a detailed expense sheet must be provided. Then, during an intense question-and-answer portion, the senate assesses whether each expense is necessary. The intensity which characterizes this process should leave no doubt as to why more clubs fail to take advantage of AS' supposedly "free" money. It is extremely difficult to receive funding, and passing off the process as anything else is disingenuous to novices and insulting to those of us who have actually gone through the complex process.
The assertion that most of the "dispensed" money does not go to a "wide variety of student interests" is also dubious when one considers that the racial makeup of AS itself does not reflect diversity (although it does reflect the homogeneity of Santa Clara).
It is difficult to see how cultural clubs don't represent a "wide variety of student interests," unless one operates under the false pretense that all minorities are the same. The Multicultural Center and its cultural clubs are vital to the social discourse of this school, and they provide a truth the administration and its much-vaunted core curriculum has yet to acknowledge: culture extends beyond that of England and France.
When considering the historically low voter turnout in AS elections, one has to wonder whether AS truly represents anything beyond a narrow scope of interests itself. Perhaps a useful exit poll question would be, "Are you personal friends with any of the candidates?" I'm willing to bet my Steve Nash replica jersey that the results of that poll would show a gross imbalance in voter makeup.
Let's be honest. We generally only care about our own clubs, our own friends and our own activities. We like to stay in our comfort zones and use fear of the unknown to nurture a certain level of ignorance. However, it must be said that this is incalculably easier to achieve when one either belongs to or chooses to align and identify with the majority.
David Wonpu is a junior English major and appeared before AS to request discretionary funding for this year's CSA Cultural Show.
CORRECTION: The column stated that there are no African-American tenured professors at Santa Clara, when, in fact, there are.