Script
HOST INTRO: The Ivy League, Cornell University, is located in upstate New York and has an overall student population of over 51,000. Roughly, according to Data USA, only 5.73% of those students are Black. Chantal Green sat down with a recent Black alumni to discuss their experience at Cornell.
TRACK: I’m here with Richard Green, a former student at Cornell University who recently graduated in the summer of 2021. He was a pre-law student majoring in Industrial Labor Relations and is currently enrolled at Fordham University, studying law full time.
ACT: RICHARD: “You have to put yourself in certain spaces in order to see other black people.”
TRACK: He says that, while he was there, he noticed that finding community as a Black student required a bit more effort.
ACT: RICHARD: Generally, the Black students had to create the space themselves. Um, fraternities didn’t have, like Black fraternities compared to White fraternities didn’t have spaces of their own. They would have to rent them out if they wanted to have a party or events or anything of that nature.
TRACK: Despite having campus events, Cornell still did not have the most open space for their Black students.
ACT: RICHARD: There were events for Black people but they didn’t really work with the Black organizations for those events. When Black people want to do something they kinda just do it themselves.
TRACK: Cornell, like many other campuses, still has a long way to go when it comes to organizing and creating spaces for their marginalized students. For Multimedia Reporting at Baruch College, I’m Chantal Green.
Interview