American University students battle between financial security and comfortability

WASHINGTON – “This place is a hellhole for a broke black woman like me,” Ma’at Sargeant, senior at American University said when describing her college experience.

Sargeant came back from class on the afternoon of May 1, 2017, ready to destress from her hectic morning of classes with a nap. It was a normal day until she learned that bananas had been strung through nooses and hung on trees across American’s Northwest Washington campus.

This racist event gained national media attention, sparking an FBI investigation that is still ongoing.

Since 2014, there has been a total number of 21 incidents of hate-related attacks on campus, according to American University’s Public Safety Annual Report from 2017-2018.

“I knew [the black community] was just a drop of the population at American, but never expected this to be an issue,” said Sargeant.

She along with several of her peers considered leaving American because of what she saw as an unsafe and consistently hostile environment for students of color.

But instead, she and many other students decided to stay despite their negative perceptions because of financial aid packages that were hard to walk away from.

Junior Lovesha Woods explained the decline in her mental health over the years, which she said was a direct result of the events that transpired on campus.

“It started with paranoia that turned into depression,” said Woods. “I didn’t have time to process the crimes because I had to choose being a student over my race.”

However, despite feelings of fear and insecurity, students felt obligated to stay because of financial ties. American awarded $90 million in scholarships during that time.

“I would have transferred by now if I was not basically being paid to go here,” Sargeant said.

Vice president of Campus Life and Inclusive Excellence, Fanta Aw, worked in the Office of Campus Life during the 2017 hate crime. In talking to students, Aw said they felt under attack and traumatized.

“The racial incident that occurred definitely had a significant impact on particularly African-American students and to some extent, I would say, students who consider themselves allies,” said Aw.

Despite the emotional and psychological effects these events had on students, Aw said students still stayed at the university.

“The retention rate of students was quite strong, the incident really left a poor taste in people’s mouths and negative perceptions of the institution, but it did not necessarily lead to students transferring out,” Aw said.

Aw stated that some students were compelled to stay because American offered them something other institutions may not be able to do.

“Financial aid became a significant motivator for keeping people even when they weren’t happy,” said Aw. “I think people understood if they transferred they wouldn’t get that same level of aid.”

“It’s like once you’re in here, and if you’re poor, you’re trapped,” Sargeant said.

Shirleyne McDonald, associate director of financial aid, observed students struggle to stay at American.

“Students felt isolated and there was a push to get help and experience that community feeling again,” McDonald said.

McDonald said that many students on financial aid come to her with questions about transferring as well as seeking advice and support surrounding the hate crimes that occurred over the years. But despite their unsatisfactory with the university, many students decided to say.

“Students stayed because the transfer students don’t receive the best financial aid packages,” she said. “This is because funding is allocated differently to a fully funded freshman than a transfer student in the same institution.”

The cost of attendance for a private university is based on several different aspects, including government funding, financial need of the student, family contributions, tuition, mandatory fees, housing, meals, transportation, books and personal costs.

At American, the total cost to attend was just over $61,000 for the 2016-2017 academic year.

“Over the past five years, American has worked to ensure that of the students who

, all of them receive some form of financial aid,” McDonald said. “It’s a hard offer to beat.”

Many students battled between choosing comfortability on campus or dealing with the events that transpired due to the large financial aid packages they received.

“I feel like I had a lot of opportunity because of financial aid,” said Woods, the junior.

Woods said that her financial aid package has such a substantial amount of aid that she receives excess funds that allow her to live off campus; leaving was not a feasible option.

“I feel kind of restrained because the only reason I’m able to come to this university is because of financial aid,” Woods said.

Junior Julian Baro also considered transferring because he did not condone the demeaning behavior towards students of color. But financial reasons kept him at American.

“If I was paying full pocket for this education and for this institution’s blatant racism, then yes, I would be at another school absolutely,” said Baro.

While American has succeeded in making some students financially able to attend their institution, efforts to ensure comfortability on campus have failed.

Judith Hasty, a junior at American, explained that even though the financial aid is a crucial part as to why she’s at American-- and it has made things easy for her, she doesn’t believe that’s enough to bypass the unsatisfactory student experience.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to be here, but I hate the feeling in my case and some of my friend’s cases as well, that American feels like it’s okay to throw us money to silence us,” Hasty said. “No amount of money can excuse the behavior administration has exhibited in their response to hate crimes, and I would trade a better student experience for money any day,” Hasty said.

Other students who considered transferring but were financially not able to do so, know they might not see changes during the rest of their time at American. That said, they remain optimistic under the new administration of President Sylvia Burwell.

“I didn’t come here for activism,” Sargeant said. “I came here to get my degree and enjoy my college experience. I just hope the other classes behind me will be able to do the same.”