Last week, the Associated Students of Madison put 45 silhouettes on Bascom Hill to represent the minority students who dropped out of UW-Madison in 1998 after their freshman year. Monique Lara, a Mexican American from Chicago, was one of those students. She is now a senior at University of Illinois-Chicago, but had originally chosen UW-Madison after participating in UW-Madison's Summer Science Institute, a program geared towards minority students. She talked with The Daily Cardinal about her experiences.
UW-Madison wasn't what you expected?
No, not quite.
Why didn't you like it?
First of all, I moved in, like the token Hispanic girl on the floor. ... I felt really out of place.
What dorm did you live in?
I lived in Ogg.
So how long did you stay for?
I stayed for the whole year. However, after my first semester, I really wanted to go back home. I just couldn't take it.
What's different at UI-Chicago?
There's so many different ethnic groups and they're so integrated.
How well integrated do you think UW-Madison is?
Oh, God, I don't find it to be very well integrated. No.
Why do you think that is?
Because the student body obviously lacks students of color. ... They have [Latino student organizations] ... and I actually never went back after my initial meeting just because those groups didn't make me feel welcome. What really got me though is that they further segregated themselves from the majority. And I couldn't see why, us being the minority on campus, why we would further segregate and separate ourselves.
What do you mean 'they segregated themselves'?
They were concentrating on the Latinos, but they weren't trying to benefit us and, trying to integrate us, with like ASM or any other organizations like that.
At the time when I was there, there was heavy recruitment in Texas and it seemed like there were so many of them [from Texas] ... and they weren't really open to other people being a part of their clique or what not. They were just focusing on trying to help themselves and forget all the other [Latino] students. And when they found out I didn't speak Spanish, I was rejected automatically because now I'm not Mexican enough.
What were the main things that made you want to leave Madison?
That it was just assumed I was on scholarship here, on some affirmative action program.
When you left, did you talk to any administrator about why you were leaving or did you just put in a drop slip?
I didn't even do that. I just left. I left and I was like, I'm not coming back. That was it. No one contacted me or anything.
What would you say is the best way for our campus to go about improving this situation?
Maybe sharing the cultures. ... Really exposing it and introducing people to it. I think if they understand it, then it wouldn't be such an issue.
