Minority groups make up one-fourth of the student body at Mississippi State University, yet a lack of interaction still exists between all races in general.
According to the MSU president’s statement on diversity, the university relies on diversity because it makes the institution stronger and enables it to serve better the state and nation.
Bidhya Kunwar, education doctoral student in chemistry, said she was impressed by the generosity of the people in Starkville when she first came here. Coming from her home in the capital city Kathmandu, Nepal, she knew Starkville was much smaller than what she was used to.
“I find everything very good here,” she said. “I find people over here very friendly. Everybody was nice.”
Kunwar, who is Hindu, said she adapts her cultural practices from Nepal to fit her lifestyle in Starkville by keeping some statues of Hindu gods in her home, as well as hosting potlucks and celebrations with other members of the Nepalese population on campus.
She said when she first arrived in Starkville, the Nepalese population was only about 10-to-15 people strong. Now, it has grown to numbers of 40 to 60, a sign that MSU’s international community is expanding.
Sameer Hasnoo, freshman political science major, said Starkville is very diverse with its international community. Hasnoo, who is Hindu and a member of ROTC, said he has never been discriminated against because of his religion but rather because of his skin color.
“My first day here, everyone thought I was a terrorist,” Hasnoo said. “I can feel vibes from people.”
Despite the discrimination, he said he feels welcome here in Starkville by the majority of the population.
However, another international student, Yuri Park, an international business major from Seoul, South Korea, said she had concerns about the need for the university to think of ways to entice more students to come to MSU, such as public transportation.
She said the only negative thing about MSU and Starkville is that public transportation is not available to students without vehicles.
“It’s very inconvenient, like going grocery shopping, or to restaurants or movies, we don’t have cars, and no public transportation,” Park said.
She said she believes MSU is trying to become more globalized, but local students and residents need to be included in that process so they have a better understanding of international students and the world around them.
Jessica Blackmon, senior history major from Birmingham, Ala., said as an African American student, she does not feel like a minority but understands that tensions are out there.
“Some programs or some organizations are not as open (to minorities),” she said, adding that it is hard to get minority initiatives into legislation because the support is minimal. “A lot of organizations publicize that they are open to everyone, but they’re really not.”
Blackmon, who is involved in several campus organizations, said she has noticed how races tend to stick together instead of mingling together.
“Segregation still exists. I don’t know if people do it intentionally, or if they recognize it, but it still exists,” she said.
Halston Hales, Student Association vice president, said in an email that unfortunately, there is little ethnic diversity within SA Senate. However, the senate structure and the structure being proposed to implement for the session in the fall would ensure diversity because it would allow for every college within MSU to be represented regardless of size.
“For example, Forest Resources would receive a vote even though they are several times smaller than Arts & Sciences or Engineering,” he said. “I am encouraged by that commitment it has built in to guard smaller programs’ interests. However, within the more specific and less easily measured filter of racial diversity, though it is more homogenous, it still does exhibit some variation.”
Hales said the actual MSU student body does not necessarily vote against the minority, but more so that it lacked an appropriate number of such candidates to vote for.
Vincent Baker, freshman physical therapy major and a Choctaw American Indian, grew up on a reservation in Philadelphia, Miss. He said there are only nine other Choctaws on campus to his knowledge. Despite being a minority, he said most of the people are nice, and he’s never been treated badly because of his race.
“Every race is the same, you have good and bad,” he said.