Beloit College

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Major: Critical Identities
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: African-American Heterosexual Male

Summary

I am a varsity athlete and I’m in a fraternity.

Background

Gender Identity: Male
Race/Ethnicity: African-American
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual

High School Experience: Public school in San Diego, CA with a graduating class of about 700 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: No
Major: Critical Identities
Minor: None

Extracurricular Activities: I am a varsity athlete and I’m in a fraternity.
What impact has being an athlete had on your experience?
I’ve learned to work with different types of people and different kinds of athletes. Coming from my high school, I was not used to working with a predominantly White team. I wouldn’t say it’s been a challenge, but it has been a different aspect of my game because of who I play with. It’s been a great learning experience.

Academic Experience

Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
It’s a lot of group work. We talk a lot about different identities, like gender identities, masculinity, and that kind of stuff and we have a lot of group work to help us understand other people’s points of view. My work is a lot of reading, forum posts, and essays.
Is there anything you feel your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
It’s very detailed and touches all aspects that we talk about. It gets straight to the point so it’s easy for people to understand. I feel like the professor picks out the right stuff for us to learn.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
The school is really strong in academics and challenges you in all aspects of what you want to learn. It’s competitive in the sense that the work is challenging.
How accessible are your professors?
The professors are very accessible through email, weekly office hours, and after class.
What’s been your favorite class you’ve taken for your major so far?
My Black Lives Matter class. I liked that class a lot because since this is a PWI, there are not many Black students in classrooms and there weren’t that many minorities in that class, it was a good way to express myself about Black issues going on in America and teach them about what it means to be Black in America. The projects we did were very group-based and were very helpful in that we focused on the important points from class. It was a very good, productive discussion-based class.
Do you feel people are open to multiple schools of thought in the classroom?
Yes. I think that because it’s a liberal campus and it gives you a lot of options for what you want to do. They don’t have everything, but there are lots of options that you can choose from to learn. You can put yourself in different learning settings.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choice?
I am happy with my choice because it’s something that I understand a lot and it taught me a lot of things about myself and people. It improved my people skills and helped me understand other people because now I can connect with people in all different kinds of ways. What got me interested in that major was I took a class called Sex and Power and fell in love with the idea of the major and then made it my major.
How was managing both your sport and your coursework?
It was challenging at first because with some classes you do have a lot of work. You have practice and after practice you just want to relax but you’ll have a lot of work to do. It’s very challenging at first but you do end up getting the hang of it once you figure out how to manage your time.

Reasons to Attend

1) The financial aid is phenomenal here.
2) The people here are very nice.
3) Being an African American here at a PWI, it gives you a different perspective on people. It helps you better understand how the world around you works.
4) If you’re an athlete and want to only win, this is not your winning kind of school if you look at the records. But, playing on a team here builds a lot of character.

Reasons Not to Attend

1) If you’re a party person, this is not the place for you.
2) If you’re an African-American, you might not feel comfortable here because there are not a lot of Black bodies and sometimes Black bodies aren’t treated fairly here. [See The Round Table article, “Community responds to potential hate act on campus” and article, “Frustration continues after hate crime.”]
3) The food on campus is bad.

Around Campus

Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Porter Hall with one roommate
Sophomore: Black Students United House with one roommate
Junior – Senior: Black Students United House in a single
How was transitioning from living in your hometown in San Diego, CA to Beloit, WI in terms of location?
I’m originally from Chicago, so the weather wasn’t too much of a change. The big changes were academic because the classrooms here are smaller and the coursework was more challenging.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
I have felt safe. The school has security patrolling around and the security is pretty accessible. We live in a neighborhood setting where it’s an open campus that people can just walk on. There have been incidents with hate crimes, so sometimes I do question the safety. But, when I see campus security walking around and trying to do their best for all the students on campus, I feel safe.

Social Opportunities

What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
I usually am hanging out with friends, playing cards, maybe going out to eat or see a movie. There are places in Beloit that you can go out and do that. I sometimes go to parties and go see a game that’s going on based on what’s in season. Most of the parties that happen on campus are hosted by Greek life and have different themes that they come up with. They also do collaboration events with other Greek organizations. We also have fundraising events that are a lot of fun like pie a brother or if it’s a nice day we’ll grill hot dogs and hamburgers and sell them for like $1.
What is the impact of Greek life on nightlife?
Greek life throws pretty much all the parties, but it’s not like you have to be in Greek life to come, everybody’s welcome and there’s no charge. You just have to show a student I.D. to show that you go to the school.
How happy are you with the weekend options? Is there anything you would change if you could?
I’d like to have more outdoor events when it’s nice out that bring the whole school together to have fun on campus. Maybe like a big picnic outside or something. The school does put on Spring Day, but I feel like we should all come together and do something to be more active when it’s warm.

Campus Culture

How did you meet your closest friends?
My best friend I met because freshman year we had the same [First Year Initiative (FYI)] class together. Most of my other close friends came from sports and just having normal conversations and hanging out at parties. Once you put yourself out there and try to connect with people, you can make friends in different areas of campus.
How would you describe the overall social scene at Beloit?
A lot of people are quiet and a lot of people are shy. There are people who don’t know what to say or they just like to stay with themselves or they need to be with the right group of people to be more social. That puts us in a situation where it looks really cliquey. Like, Black people stay with Black people and people stay with people like them. Everybody has their certain group. If we were all outside in an area, you’d see people together with their friends in different areas because people don’t interact much with people outside of their comfort zone and outside of their friend group.
To what extent do you think people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
They mix mostly at parties but not so much outside of that. At parties it seems like a big mixture because people see people they know and will go say hi and go to different areas around the room.
How would you describe the Black community on campus? How strong is it?
I wouldn’t say it’s that strong because there are not that many of us, but for the people who are here, we stick together. We try our best to make sure we all know each other and, as upperclassmen, it’s our job to make sure that if the underclassmen need anything, we can help them. [About 7% of the population is Black.]
How do you like the size of Beloit in terms of undergraduate enrollment? How was transitioning to a school with [about 1,250] students?
The school is small and we lose students as well. Sometimes being on campus there are not a lot of people you know. We don’t have a lot of students coming in since we’ve had smaller classes coming in the past few years. The impact of people coming and leaving can be tough because you make a connection with someone and then they leave. In my eyes, it makes the school look bad and puts the school at risk. [For the Class of 2019, 72% of students persisted through senior year with 86% returning after freshman year. For the Class of 2021, 78% of students returned for their sophomore year.
Do you think people are generally happy with their choice of Beloit by senior year? Do you think people leave loving Beloit?
I wouldn’t say that. I think the main thing that people say when they leave is the connection with people and the college life is what they like about it. I’ve heard people say they wish they never came to Beloit and I understand why. I’ve heard that it can be very hard to transfer credits when transferring out of Beloit, so it can hurt you that way. It’s expensive money-wise and the food is bad too. I will say I don’t think people here are happy for all four years. You have to make it the best that you can. From my experience, I didn’t like it when I first got here. But, as I went through the years, the people who I connected with and the connections I had with professors and advisors make it feel like you have help around you. I also think the way the school handles things that have to do with Black bodies and minorities is terrible. Like, they don’t do a lot of things that you would think they would do. [Total costs for 2019-20 were about $60,892. See The Round Table article, “Community responds to potential hate act on campus” and article, “Frustration continues after hate crime.”]

Careers

Has the alumni network helped you find internships or jobs?
Yes, they have. They help if you reach out to them. The career office has connections but also your fraternity can connect you with people. There are professors who can connect you with them too. I personally had alums help build my resume and touch it up. They also helped me find the sort of job that I wanted to do. They put in a call for me and helped me get that job.
What have you used the career office for? How helpful are they?
They’re very helpful. They can help you in all aspects like figuring out what direction you want to go in, who you should connect with specifically, help you build your resume, find local jobs, or find jobs in any city you want to go.
Have you learned any computer languages or software that will be helpful to you professionally?
I’ve used Stata and Excel a bit.

Financial Aid

Have you used financial aid? If so, how easy are they to work with and how responsive are they?
They’re phenomenal to work with. They’ve always been great with. They get back to you ASAP about anything that pops up.