I feel like one of the largest problems I've had with USC (and don't get me wrong I love it here, New York is 45 degrees and pouring right now) is that I feel like it's a campus too caught up on appearances and not enough on authenticity. Although we've implemented an amazing visions and voices program to bring culture and arts to the students and faculty of USC, Roski is one of the most underfunded schools within the university (legit, it's two ancient buildings and the flags along the pathway of it say Viterbi on them). Though we have our good neighbors and friends community service program set up to serve the children of our surrounding mostly Hispanic immigrant community, they still felt the need to pick up myself and eleven of my other Posse members to bring more diversity to the campus because in reality the only people on this campus from the surrounding neighborhood are the kids they're serving and the workers they have cleaning up after the people that walk by them like they don't exist. And despite the fact that we may be known as one of the most accepting LGBT campuses in the nation, we still foster an environment where people feel so disconnected to others and find it so impossible to relate their struggles to their peers that a student who is most likely of a foreign background themselves can't see the equal level of importance LGBT issues hold to that of immigration.
In reality we can get all fire and brimmstone over the injustice of comments and opinions such as these and we really REALLY should but like, what after? Sweep it under the rug and remind everyone of that time we got upset over something someone said to prove that we care about our community while completely forgetting that it's not about yelling at someone when they're wrong but educating them to be right as an institution of learning should? I certainly hope not but hey, it gets better, right?
--Jheanelle Garriques
