Columbia’s Model Congress convened in a Hamilton Hall classroom Monday night with the intention of breaking down stereotypes about each undergraduate school. But the role of Barnard students turned out to be a hot-button issue.
Model Congress President Maisha Rashid, BC ’10, explained that the impetus for the forum was to help first-year students become integrated into the University and understand where they fit in. “The most concerning part for a first-year is they want to fit in, they want to belong. I think it’s an event that needs a bigger forum for first-years.”
With “BC, CC, SEAS stereotypes” scribbled on the board in the background, stereotypes about Barnard students were up for audience review. Attendees named some assumed profiles of Barnard students—that they are sexually promiscuous and lacking intellectual curiosity.
One female Columbia College student said she was dismayed with Barnard students citing Columbia’s name because, as a Barnard applicant who considered going, she feels it cheapens the appreciation that Barnard students should have for their college in its own right.
A number of Barnard students expressed that they felt generally uneasy on campus at times. This stems from feeling pigeonholed as inferior and illegitimate members of the University, they said.
Felicia Montalvo, BC ’11, said she feels this pressure in a number of ways. “There are three different dimensions of that. One, I’m a Barnard student. Two, I’m a woman. And three, being a person of color is a whole other stereotype that comes with the issue. People think, ‘You got here not based on merit but because you’re part of an underrepresented demographic.’”
Audience members discussed tensions between School of Engineering and Applied Science and Columbia College students, though mostly in passing. One SEAS student described the uneasiness that comes from differences in academic preferences and strengths between SEAS and CC students.
Obiora Azie, SEAS ’13, invoked a popular, relatable analogy to describe his perception of the four undergraduate schools. As Azie sees it, “CC is Gryffindor, SEAS is Slytherin, Barnard is Ravenclaw, and GS is Hufflepuff.”
Students concluded that the tension is partly the result of students’ insecurity in assimilating into a larger undergraduate community as well as their identification with a specific college.
Montalvo said she thinks more students should participate in similar events to get at the heart of this matter. “Dialogue in general is always helpful but the only way it can be truly effective is if you have it with people who are perpetrators of stereotypes, and it’s hard to get them to come to these things for that reason. That’s the kind of dialogue you want to get because you want to break down those stereotypes,” she said.
Devon Galloway, CC ’10, also found the forum effective—to an extent. “I don’t think these conversations will solve everything, but it does make sense to at least acknowledge the problem because when you’re at Columbia, you fall into these stereotypes. You start telling Barnard jokes, and you start believing them.”
“When you have big university communities, special identities within that community will happen. It’s our job to take it with a grain of salt, not take it seriously, and talk about it with each other—address it together—in forums like these,” Rashid explained.
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