MultiCultural Center

Video produced by Felicia J. Lee (Center for Women and Ethnic Issues) and Patricia Mahaffey (Housing and Residential Life), with assistance by other staff in Housing and Residential Life, and the Office of Student Affairs. Interviews with students, faculty, and staff explore the climate at Cal Poly from the perspectives of people of color. The video's credits give a Special Thanks to Tim Dolman, Frank Gonzales, Michele Lum, Teresa Higeya, Max Galindo, Lisa Taylor, and Robert Lee.
[00:00:15] Bridges Perspective on the Cal Poly Community
[00:00:24] Man starts reading a poem about racial discrimination and prejudice
[00:01:30] With a total population of over 30 million, California has a multitude of different cultures and ethnicities
[00:02:00] People believe that a university such as Cal Poly is diverse and inclusive, and it is necessary to ask if the university really does welcome those who are a part of its identity
[00:02:56] In recent interviews, we asked students and faculty to share their own experiences towards regarding students of color
[00:03:06] "How would you describe the attitude at Cal Poly?"
[00:03:23] Some white students say, "We're not prejudice but it's not our problem."
[00:03:38] Student of color have to take it on themselves to get the ethnic studies program here, and they were the only ones who would benefit that
[00:04:30] "I see white student looking at students of color with attitude of 'you must have had some sort of special consideration in order to get into Cal Poly.'" [00:05:14] "Can you describe some personal experience that relate to these attitudes?"
[00:05:25] Minorities describe experiencing a huge culture shock upon coming to Cal Poly
[00:06:05] As an Asian American, I don't really feel like there's anyone that I can relate my experience to
[00:06:44] When you're in a classroom and you're the only minority student, you feel like everyone is always looking at you
[00:07:40] Living in Fremont Hall, one African American student experienced a huge culture shock upon arriving when she realized that she was the only African American student in her residence hall
[00:08:38] It can become taxing to be burdened by issues and conflicts based on diversity and cultural issues
[00:08:50] One African American student describes an experience he had where the police pulled them over and implied that they had committed a crime and racially profiled them
[00:09:50] Another male student of color described a bad interaction where his Architecture professor was racist to him and criticizing his Mexican heritage, saying that he didn't belong in that major.
[00:10:25] A black male student described how white students and faculty are allowed to be angry and have a bad day, while if a person of color expresses anger, it's "how they are"
[00:13:00] "What needs to be done to make Cal Poly a more positive learning environment for everyone?"
[00:13:35] They should want to learn more about experiences that they don't know
[00:13:45] Every student should be actively involved in some club or another
[00:14:26] That's the best support system of all, is having people on campus that are your same ethnicity
[00:14:30] A professor suggests that something that Cal Poly should move towards is a closer integration of the curriculum and "formal" education aspects of Cal Poly and how it enforced cultural sensitivity outside of the classroom, on the campus and in San Luis Obispo at large.
[00:14:56] They need faculty who can understand ethnic students or minority students
[00:16:40] "What are your opinion on the challenges facing students at Cal Poly?"
[00:16:50] The anxiety of demographic changes are bringing out a lot in people
00:17:05] Video ends

Photograph of three men attending the Martin Luther King Jr. event in 1986.

Fundraiser for the Afro-American Student Union, May 1984.

Men and women march during a parade for a Martin Luther King Jr. event, 1986.

Martin Luther King Jr. event, "Marching to the Future", photograph of three women attending the event.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day Event. The man with the beard and sunglasses in the foreground has been tentatively identified as Tony D. 1989.

A group of nineteen students stand in front of the El Corral Bookstore. There are two signs, one reads "Jamaica Spring Break" and the other reads "Kiwis on Campus".

A group of seventeen students are near the stairs to the second floor of the University Union. A sign in one of the windows reads "Rec Sports, Special Offer".

Two students are pictured, one wearing a hat and glasses. Their sweatshirt bears the Greek initials A Γ P, the symbols for the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity. They have a red, blue and green ribbon pinned onto their sweatshirt, possibly for the MLK event. The other student is wearing a white collar with a brown jacket.

One student is shielding their face from the sun, and is wearing a red coat over a white shirt and has a camera in their hand. The other student has a blue buttoned up shirt. Behind them is another student facing away from the camera wearing a red coat with a green, white and red cloth hanging over their shoulder.

Seven people form a marching line, probably on North Perimeter Road, behind another line of people with black and grey suits. One of the Cal Poly area ridges is visible in the distance. In the background behind those in the line, Cal Poly buildings and cars are visible.

Three people in black suits leading the march up North Perimeter Road, with the Red Brick dorms behind them, and the Administration Building to their right (out of the frame).

A large line of students march down a Cal Poly campus road. A blue Dodge Ram van is sitting to the side of the road next to the marching students. A San Luis Obispo area ridge is visible in the background.

Among the students in the concrete Union plaza are a woman wearing purplish-pink, a student reading a book, and another looking over a document. There is a red, orange and yellow sail (possibly a student project) behind the students.

The women are posing to a sorority or fraternity booth. Three of the women are wearing white shirts (one of which has the words 'Dove Life' printed on it). Two others are wearing black, one with a pink undershirt and the other wearing solid black. The last woman in the group is wearing yellow. There are other men and women at the event around them.

Five Black students are behind a booth for the Afro-American Student Union. The sign above the booth reads "Soda 60 cents" and an unidentified food item priced at $1.50. Two other Black students are next to the booth towards the front.

In addition to the formal jacket, the man is wearing a white turtleneck shirt with a ribbon from the MLK event pinned onto his coat. The El Corral bookstore and a group of students are behind him. There are blue, yellow and white signs hanging from the rooftop of the bookstore.

The woman on the left is wearing a purple button up shirt. The woman on the right is wearing a green and white coat. Behind them is a white bus and a group of around twenty people, including two children.

Crowd towards the edge of the University Union plaza. A sign in a window reads "Catholic Fellowship" and the window to the left of the sign is covered with plastic sheeting.

The crowd is sitting on the concrete stairs in the University Union plaza. Some students are in the back and sitting at tables or under trees. In the back hanging from the Union's second story railing, there are signs that read "- Payback. This week only!" and "SCE Meeting WED 7:30PM".