Anonymous, who describes herself as open-minded and hard-working, is a third-year student studying Industrial Engineering at Georgia Tech. She is a Georgia native, having grown up in Atlanta all of her life and attended Atlanta schools prior to her time at Georgia Tech. Howe ver, as an American, she finds herself in a unique intersection of culture. Her father, a practicing Muslim, is Yemeni, and her mother, of Catholic faith, is from Mexico. Though appreciative of her dual heritage, she describes the experience as challenging in the sense that individuals of Middle Eastern or Latin American descent are often subject to discrimination.
When asked broadly about the idea of diversity at Georgia Tech, Anonymous responded by saying the Institute frequently takes pride in the statistical diversity of the student body. She used the word “fakeness” in relation to how students at Georgia Tech understand diversity:
Students here know that diversity is important, on paper. But they don’t actually believe it’s important. So many students don’t embrace diversity because the aren’t directly affected. I don’t hear many conversations about diversity.
The conversation naturally led to a discussion of “GT Culture” as a newly defined topic and an issue. She characterized GT Culture as “very silent,” explaining that students “tend to act as though things aren’t happening.” With frustration, she interpreted the behavior as students’ fear of committing offense as well as their widely differing opinions.
In the context of her personal experience on campus, Anonymous describes her classroom experience as uncomfortable at times. “Industrial Engineering is not a very diverse major,” she stated. She explained that many of her classes are composed of white male students. She also feels as though white students, as well as male students, “get more respect here.” She quickly provided the example of her Physics class, in which “girls are made to feel stupid for asking a question.” Having been a member of an all-male lab group, Anonymous said that whenever she asked a question, the members of her group did not acknowledge her. However, if another male student in the group asked the same or similar question, the other group members would immediately provide assistance. “It’s on the students and faculty to come across as approachable.” Anonymous also describes another frustrating experience:
For CS 2316, I had a white, male professor, ex-military. Near the end of fall semester, the students in my class were notified of a grading error that, for me, would bring one of my test grades from an 85 to a 65. I was in danger of not passing the class. But when I spoke to my professor about my concern around the issue, he responded by telling me to “go back to my home country and set myself on fire.” I notified the administration of the incident — I filed a complaint through the institute. They acknowledged it at first. But no follow up. Nothing.