What the Hell, Mudd?

For those that know and for those that may not, I have been away from Harvey Mudd this semester. I needed to get away from some of the toxicity that a few of the faculty and staff brought about, and I needed to take a break and redefine what it meant to me to receive a higher education. Having been away from Mudd, and looking from the outside in, I can see problems that were masked by the stressful workload, the fake smiles to your face, and the constant thought of “it will be okay, life continues on”. But now that I can fully grasp everything that is going on, I can only ask what the hell is going on?

Today, they laid off Dean Qutayba Abdullatif, or Dean Q. He was seeing approximately half the students at Mudd to help with mental health issues accumulated during their stay at Mudd as well as going down to CMC and Scripps College to help their students with their mental health. Dean Q put in hours of his time beyond the paycheck to ensure that students at the college were able to tend to their needs. He was booked everyday, with the next available appointment being after two or three weeks. Students looked up to Dean Q and the work that he was doing. He was doing it because he loved what he does. Dean Q cared for the students, and did NOT receive pay amounting to any of the work he was doing. The Office of Health and Wellness at Mudd receives minimal funding as it is, and Dean Q was using the funding to it’s fullest, to ensure that students received the help they needed. His leave conveniently falls right after the Admitted Students Program (ASP) weekend, and puts more pressure on those students that need him since the next few weeks are finals weeks. Mudd has a mental health problem where many students have mental depression, anxiety, suicidal tendencies, and physical health issues. These students have trouble finding the support that they should have while attending this school.

Email Sent to Students regarding Dean Q’s “Leave”

For those that do not know, a report about Mudd was leaked about an investigation within the school. The Wabash report (which can be read here) essentially asked students and faculty/staff what the problems at Mudd were, so administration could try and pinpoint changes that need to be made to make Mudd a better place for students overall, without losing the rigor that Mudd has. However, Mudd held this report from students after they found that there were some comments (which can be read here) that showed that there were Professors among the faculty that did not care for students of color and claimed that Mudd’s value was “declining because of students of color.” This took an emotional toll on many students of color that sparked even more anger and sadness. This was and still is a problem in Mudd. There was a forum held that was meant to highlight issues that students, faculty, and staff had on campus. During this time, Dean Q called out the administration for the lack of funding that the Office of Health and Wellness receives, and President Maria Klawe decided to avoid the problem asking questions such as “you don’t hate me do you” and claiming that she “gives Dean Q hugs”.

“Yes, she gives hugs of ‘fuck your feelings and fuck the students'” -anonymous HMC Student.

I would think, that after the events of the Wabash Report, the passing of two students of color in a toxic environment, and the environment that students of color have to go through at Mudd, that Mudd would increase the funding or find ways to help one of the sole people that contributed the most to improving mental health of the students on Mudd’s campus. But since he spoke up against the administration and called them out on their bullshit, he is being punished. The email sent out to students claimed that he took a “leave of absence”, insinuating that Dean Q himself decided to take a break. That, however, is not the case as he was required to leave campus immediately and is not able to have contact with current students or faculty. What good does this do for Mudd? Where are the students that need Dean Q’s help supposed to go now? Mudd as an institution has failed students of color as well as students that need help with mental health. What the hell is going on, Harvey Mudd? What is your plan to fix the existing problems you just brought to light?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The First Flight

Boston Adventures: Day 1

The Landing and First Sights:

For those that were unaware, I am now in Boston, Massachusetts, with 11 other black students from Harvey Mudd College. We are all here for the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), representing region VI. We left from Ontario Airport at 7pm, and we have landed safely in the East Coast around 6:45am East Coast time.

Beautiful San Fran

We were greeted with 35ºF temperatures and 7mph winds. Donely starts freaking out about the cold, and it was quite a hilarious sight.  We took a taxi back to the hotel. On the way, we saw a minivan with a school bus sign on the roof. It was by far, one of the weirdest things I have seen. Upon arriving at the Omni Parker Hotel, a beautiful spectacle might I add, we check in and move to our rooms. We sit back, relax, grab Dunkin Donuts, and then head on out to NSBE. There is literally a Dunkin’ Donuts on every corner in Boston. It’s insane.

Oh, I forgot. It was raining, but it wasn’t the same type of rain that I have been accustomed to in SoCal since I was born. It was as if the rain drops weren’t falling, but were suspended in the air in front of you as you walked, and you could feel them if and only if you walked. It was also an interesting experience and one I was happy to have had.

The Arrival to NSBE:

We get into the Boston Convention Center, and it is just filled with intelligent young and experienced black minds all over the place. It was a wonderful experience that words cannot describe. Most people were dressed up fancy in tuxedos and holding fancy binders filled wiht resumes. Some students were for Pre-Collegiate Initiatives (High School Students) that were excited to look at some of the big companies and colleges that they will encounter in the future. Other students were College Undergraduate or Post Graduate Students that were looking for internships or full time jobs, seeking information on how to reach their goals and aspirations. Then, there were adults that were either promoting their businesses (obviously), or looking for jobs themselves. The career fair wasn’t for another two hours, and there were a couple of talks that we had missed, so most of us went to the NSBE study room to do homework while we waited for the career fair. On the way to the room, there were other rooms that had resources like resume building and mock interviews. There were places to print resumes and there were places to sit down and talk to the fellow black community. The career fair starts at noon, but so does lunch, and most of us were hungry, so four of us that were still together went to lunch at the designated area, however, we were told that there was no more room, even though we were there on time, and they knew that there were going to be a lot of students attending the event, but that is okay. We found a food court on the East end of the building and there were a variety of places to eat, ranging from “Boston Favs” to “Asian Bowls” and “Mex Bowls”. The four of us ate, and then we walked straight towards the career fair.

The Career Fair:

Upon entering the doors of the career fair, you could see hundreds of companies and around 50 colleges looking for students and graduates to come to them for information internships, and full time jobs. Companies like Microsoft, Google, Intel, Amazon, IBM, SpaceX, NASA, Facebook, Oculus, and many other big names and startups were out looking for students to take under their wing and provide leadership for. The best part about this kind of convention is that there are possibilities for essentially anyone that walks through those doors. It’s not specifically for engineering, nor science, or technology. Some companies were looking for summer interns to take a communications position, or a project management position. We walked around the career fair for about 4-5 hours picking up some “swag” from companies and dropping off resumes. As Fabio says, “gotta getyget that free stuff though.” After walking around for hours and feeling sore on the feet, a few of us decided to head back to the shuttle and head on back to the hotel.

The Evening:

We had been at NSBE for hours, and we were HUNGRY. Hungry doesn’t actually begin to describe how our stomachs were feeling, so we got out of our dress clothes and got into more comfortable attire to walk around in. We search up some restaurants, and we come across some underground tavern restaurant that seemed interesting, except, it was quite full for a party of 7, so we had to keep on searching. Now, it’s 8pm, and we’re thinking that there would be some eateries open…NOPE! Not in Boston, most stores were closing by 7:30pm-8pm, and fast food stores were closing at 9pm. Missing those late night west coast meals BUT, we passed by a Five Guys and a Wendy’s and Jakim and I were like, “Les Go!”, but everyone else wanted to go check out the Irish pub place instead…shaking my head…but it was 21 and over so we went back to Wendy’s and Five Guys and ate together in Five Guys. Everyone went back to their rooms and that concludes day 1! So far, everything is looking awesome and like it’s going to be a lot of fun!

The First Post! Who is AnAfroMain?!

Good morning friends, family, and any other travelers that have come across my page. I have created this blog as an outlet for all the exciting events that occur during my adventure in college. This blog serves as a vent for stress, a way to store memories, and a way to keep people updated with everything that’s going on in my life. After seeing friends use blogs to keep such treasures, I felt that this would also be a good adventure for myself. Here, you can find posts about politics, nifty inventions, cool sights, updates on my studies/mental health, parkour, or anything else that I do. In the next couple years, it will hold my journey as I begin to study abroad.

Now for those that know who I am personally, or even those that are curious why I chose the name AnAfroMain as my alias for this blog, I grew up picking out and managing my afro almost my entire life (When it wasn’t in braids or cut for Lacrosse). The Afro is a piece of me and my identity, so I feel as though since it’s my hairstyle of choice, I need to embrace it, thus AnAfroMain was born!

For those that do not know who I am, I currently attend Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, CA and I major in Engineering. I love taking things apart and tinkering with the insides of electronics and toys. I love the outdoors and spending my time out in nature as much as possible. As for activities, you can find me snowboarding, surfing, doing parkour/freerunning, hiking, scuba diving, playing a musical instrument, listening to music, or just hanging out. As seen by my logo, my favorite painting is Kanagawa-oki Nami Uri or “The Great Wave off Kanagawa”. Even since I was a child, I had loved the painting. My favorite symbol is the Yin/Yang as the design, while simplistic, holds much meaning! For a first post, I feel as though this has enough about my mission as well as who I am. Look out for more updates!