Book Culture, where you can easily spend hundreds on required reading for class. Photo Credit: Book Culture LinkedIn
At Columbia, it quickly becomes clear that “underrepresented” doesn’t always mean “poor.” While addressing the issue of “underrepresentation” is often framed as a moral imperative for diversity programs aimed at recruiting the next generation of scholars of color, those who use the term frequently overlook the specific challenges faced by first-generation and/or low-income (FLI) students. Moreover, the reasons behind these “underrepresentations” are often left unexamined without further inquiry or attention to class. Even the term “FLI” can be a misnomer: at Columbia, students can be first-generation, but some are certainly not low-income.
As a senior at Columbia, I have witnessed firsthand how these terms mislead students and faculty alike. Some students and faculty, while sensitive to the challenges faced by underrepresented students of color, fail to take meaningful action to address the complex needs of their underrepresented FLI students. From experience, a one-size-fits-all approach to helping the underrepresented does not work: the needs of one individual student are different from another, even if they share the same identity or experience.
