YO
BU
BEING A HISPANIC IMMIGRANT AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY
By Pedro
Pizano May 29, 2009
"Completely love it. Completely fit in," said Bernardo Vargas, 20, and SMG Rising Junior about being an international student for at least four years at Boston University. Still, having been born in Monterrey, Mexico, he told me the following story: "When the swine flu epidemic broke out, my boss [at BU] called me to ask if I was feeling well, if maybe I had a cold or was coughing."I asked Bernardo if he thought his boss only called because he was Mexican. Vargas didn't hesitate for a second and answered: "Yes, that is precisely the expression of America's long time fear of the unknown."
But for BU students Melody Feo, 20, and Hector
Oseguera, 21, daughter and son
of former illegal immigrants and now naturalized American citizens, the unknown
has never posed any problems for them. They both grew up in neighborhoods that
were primarily Hispanic, and as Bernardo, they have no problem fitting in.
"I
have never felt any pressure from anyone or anything about being an
immigrant,"
said Melody. She remembers,
though, that when she was 8, she realized that she couldn't participate in any
of the extra-curricular activities like soccer at her elementary school because
her parents were not legal residents of Parsippany, NJ. It felt like a cold
sadness that swept through the house, I was too young to understand." She feels today that it was both her
parent's longing for Colombia and the full realization of her parent's decision
to move from Bogotá, Colombia into the unknown opportunities and challenges of
the American Dream.
It is precisely this dream that has made Boston University world famous. And it is precisely that speech that made the most recognized BU alumni resonate in the minds of all who have read it or heard it. The president's council at BU knows it, of course, and in their mission statement for the global future of BU, they write:
As alumnus Rev. Dr. Martin
Luther
King, Jr., wrote in 1968, "This is the great new problem of mankind. We
have
inherited a large house, a great "world house" in which we have to
live
together—black and white, Easterner and Westerner,
Dr.
King's words
In that same speech it says that BU has "one of the
highest
numbers of international students among American colleges and
universities." The
incoming freshman class for 2007 was 68% white, 15% Asian, 7% international
students, 7% Hispanic, and 2% black. (See figure 1)
In 2007, including graduate students
and non-degree students, 12.8 % of the university-wide student population was
Hispanic. That means that were about 4,000 students that declared themselves as
Hispanics and who knows how many others who consider themselves, Caucasian or
white. (See figure 2)
BU may or may not be an oasis: where the melting polt of world culture finds an expression and therefore respect is required in all aspects of human life. This is how these students have felt at BU, but do they feel the same in the outside world?
Well Melody, Hector and Bernardo have always declared
themselves as Hispanic
though they are to all eyes and ears, American. They've never denied their
culture, speak their mother tongue with perfect fluidity and the three of them
want to go back to their country when they have finished their studies. Yet,
Hector knows that many Americans are still not comfortable with the idea that
the U.S has no official language and that it is being run over by
immigrants. "Those who speak badly about
immigrants," says Hector, "are those who don't want to do any research
but that
somehow feel entitled to speak." For example, he says, "that he has
never understood
why Americans complain about the existence of a Spanish Aisle at
supermarkets."
Figure 1
http://www.bu.edu/dbin/infocenter/content/index.php?pageid=909&topicid=12
Figure 2
Enrollment By Geographical Distribution:
Total University Fall 2007
|
|
Undergraduate |
Graduate |
Non-degree |
Total |
|
FOREIGN STUDENTS |
1,054 |
2,458 |
682 |
4,194 |
|
PERCENT OF THE TOTAL POPULATION |
6.3% |
18.7% |
23.3% |
12.8% |
http://www.bu.edu/dbin/infocenter/content/index.php?pageid=904&topicid=12
SOURCE LIST:
Bernardo Vargas,
20
Finance Student at SMG, rising Junior born in Monterrey, Mexico.
Melody Feo, 20,
IR,
rising Junior born in Bogotá Colombia.
Hector Oseguera,
21,
Political Science, Rising Senior.
JOURNAL: New England journal of public policy: a journal of the John W. McCormack Institute of Public Affairs, University of Massachusetts at Boston. PUBLISHER: Boston, Mass: The Institute, c1984. v. : ill. ; 26 cm. ISSN 0749-016X. Mugar Library JS431 .N5
Statistics come
from
Wikipedia and Boston University Info Center. These two sources have exactly the
same info on demographics;
President's Council on the Global Future Mission Statement
Vision PDF. Taken from www.bu.edu/globalfuture/news/PICMissionStatement.pdf on Friday 29,th 2009.
Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education's http://www.hispanicoutlook.com/top100_focus.htm?section=b
BU TODAY article published on February 22, 2007: ÒTodayÕs Latino Leaders, Planning for
Tomorrow.Ó
Accessed on Friday 29, 2009 at http://www.bu.edu/today/node/2676.
All pictures taken
from face book profiles of the actual interviewees unless otherwise noted.