I, Too, Am Harvard

I, Too, Am Harvard is a campaign primarily expressed as a collection of photos that has been posted on Tumblr to illustrate the personal experiences of black students at Harvard University. The multimedia project was the result of interviews with over 60 Harvard undergraduate students holding signs bearing messages about the experiences of black students at Harvard.[1]

MottoI, Too, Am ...
Formation1 March 2014 (2014-03-01)
FounderKimiko Matsuda-Lawrence, Nonye Imo, Symone Isaac-Wilkins, Abigail Mariam, Tsega Tamene, Carol Powell and Paige Woods
Legal statusActive
PurposePicturing personal experiences of being different

Background

From 2010 through 2014, Harvard's admissions of minorities (blacks, Latinos, and Asian-Americans) have ranged between 43% and 45.6%.[2] As of 2014, African Americans make up 9.4% of the approximately 7,500 undergraduates at Harvard.[2][3]

Origin

Kimiko Matsuda-Lawrence, a Harvard undergraduate, created the multimedia project and campaign as an independent study project (under the direction of Professor Glenda Carpio during the fall of 2013) that interviewed minority students about their experiences at Harvard. They reported feelings of alienation about the Harvard campus, being the lone black student in some classes, or feeling uncomfortable about comments and social interactions with other students on campus.[3]

Matsuda-Lawrence reported that students made comments such as "I've never told anyone this before" or "I've never been able to talk about this."[3] The students comments were kept anonymous and she used them to write a play. To promote the play, she assembled a group of students to help create the multimedia project that appears on Tumblr. The Tumblr project consists of photos taken of students holding signs with racially insensitive and offensive remarks by peers and response they would like to make.[2] Examples of signs included "No, I will not teach you how to 'twerk'" and "Don't you wish you were white like the rest of us?"[3][4][5][6]

Aims and response

The project and campaign aim to the personal experiences of minority students at Harvard, especially those that have left them feeling alienated at the university.[3] By March 6, 2014, a link on BuzzFeed had produced over a million views.[2] In an email to undergraduate students, Donald Pfister, interim dean of Harvard College, expressed support for the project and said: "Harvard is also about inclusion. This photo campaign, based on a play which will premiere Friday night, is a great example of students speaking about how we can become a stronger community. 'I, Too, Am Harvard' makes clear that our conversation about community does not and should not stop."[2]

Spread to other universities and colleges

Student organizers at Harvard reported messages of support from other universities such as Yale University, Duke University, the University of Pennsylvania, McGill University and University of Oxford.[3] Inspired by "I, Too, Am Harvard" campaign, minority students at McGill University,[7] the University of Oxford[8][9] and University of Cambridge[10] are developing similar multimedia campaigns.[11][12]

References
  1. Lee, Jolie (5 March 2014). "'I, Too, Am Harvard' photos tell black students' stories". USA Today. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  2. Kahn, Joseph P. (6 March 2014). "I, Too, Am Harvard' campaign highlights black students' frustrations". Boston Globe. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  3. Butler, Bethonie (5 March 2014). "'I, Too, Am Harvard': Black students show they belong". Washington Post. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  4. Smith, Tovia (14 March 2015). "'I, Too, Am Harvard': A Mantra For Recognition Becomes An Anthem". NPR. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  5. Welsh, Jonathan (7 March 2014). "'I, Too, Am Harvard' Explores Experience of Being Black and Crimson". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  6. Williams, Patricia J. (12 March 2014). "'I, Too, Am Harvard' Rocks the Ivory Tower". The Nation. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  7. "I, too, am McGill - I am McGill". tumblr. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  8. Haidrani, Layla (13 March 2014). "Oxford's students of colour speak out in powerful 'I, too, am Oxford' campaign". The Independent. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  9. "Oxford University BME students speak out on prejudice". BBC. 14 March 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  10. Wilkinson, Hannah (10 March 2014). "I, Too, Am Cambridge: Students speak out against racial discrimination in Cambridge". Varsity Publications Ltd. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  11. Enwemeka, Zeninjor (12 March 2014). "'I, too, am Harvard' campaign spreads across the pond". Boston.com. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  12. The Stream (18 March 2014). "'I, Too, Am Harvard': Viral campaign highlights the experiences of black students at the Ivy League school". Aljazeera. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
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