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[Wesleyan University]

Issue 14 · Spring 2009
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What a Journey It Has Been

Julius Crowe Hampton, Class of 2009
Delivered at Wesleyan Convocation on February 1, 2009

My journey to Wesleyan started with an e-mail invitation the fall of my senior year of high school to attend the Wesleyan’s Fall Open House program for students of color. Prior to this, I had very little awareness or knowledge of Wesleyan. I just was eager to escape my pretentious and culturally homogenous Los Angeles independent school environment for a weekend. I must give the Wesleyan admission department credit, because after attending the program I was sold. Wesleyan seemed like the perfect environment to fulfill my interests in social justice, the arts, diversity. It wasn’t until I matriculated to Wes in the fall when I realized diversity university was actually more of a cleverly planned marketing campaign than a reality.

My first year at Wesleyan was a crazy roller coaster ride to say the least. For some reason it took a while for me to feel really comfortable at this place. I grappled with the practicality of a liberal arts education, encountered a very divided black community that seemingly had few interactions with the larger campus community, and battled the weather. (I’ll never forget trying to get back to my Butt C dorm during a treacherous ice storm.) I probably was most disturbed by the fact that the institution didn’t always live up to its socially progressive ideals that it promoted. During that year alone there were a series of racist and homophobic incidents on campus. I soon realized that this institution, just like me, was and still is, a work-in-progress.

As a sophomore, while getting more comfortable with the fact that Wesleyan wasn’t perfect, I began to see that Wesleyan’s imperfection was in many ways its best asset. It taught me that in just about any situation there is always room for improvement, but also that sometimes it doesn’t hurt to carry a few doses of creativity, patience, and versatility in your back pocket in order to make an environment work for you. Wesleyan also forced me to develop a sophisticated critical eye, one that gave way to asking myself important questions that, quite frankly, I don’t know if I would have asked myself had I gone elsewhere. I began asking myself serious questions about my identity in relation to race, class, gender, sexuality, spirituality, privilege, the purpose of education, my place in society, what I stood for, and what contributions I’d be willing to make to others in this society. While I’m still in pursuit of the answers of most of these questions, I’ve grown to understand that asking yourself such serious and tough questions is the most difficult part, and that going through such a process, I can enter just about any environment for the rest of my life with a certain savviness and tact.

I began enjoying my Wesleyan experience when I started dedicating myself to activities that connected me to the community on campus and in Middletown, where I was working on cooperative projects for a common good. On campus I spent a good portion of my time planning and organizing on the Ujamaa board in varying capacities, did some work with the Aids and Sexual Health Awareness group, and was a founding member of [Skittles] Student of Color Art Show Team. Off campus, I worked as a teacher assistant for the neighborhood after school program at Oddfellows Playhouse. These were all instances that taught me that sitting and lamenting over the problems of an environment could not be an option for me, and that it was imperative that I actively take part in the collective effort of seeking solutions. It is this lesson that I’ve learned here for which I am most grateful.

With May fast approaching, I am honestly at a loss of words. While there is no doubt that I am ready for the next chapter, there is no way I could ever forget my time at Wesleyan and the lessons it has taught me. All that I can really say now is that what a journey it has been.

Wesleyan is a unique place, and I’ve come to realize that there are very few places like it and very few people like Wesleyan people. Being a student of color at a small predominately white institution is by no means easy. While your time here may feel like a struggle at times, I do hope that you find the beauty in the struggle. Be patient and don’t be afraid to go deep. This the perfect environment to start asking yourself the tough questions without pressuring yourself to find all of the “right” answers so quickly. Know that there is a surrounding community around you where you have the opportunity and responsibility to take an active role. Try your best to immerse yourself in experiences that will challenge you, perhaps discourage you, but will allow you hopefully to grow a little each time. And lastly, I hope you embrace the moments of questioning along with the moments of clarity, the moments of despair along with the moments of joy, and the moments of isolation along with the moments of community. By adopting such an approach, your Wesleyan experience will have the potential to be a positive experience that is comprised of growth, reflection, and revelation.

Please take some time to share with your fellow alumni what you’ve been up to recently! Send us commentary, photos and/or articles of your latest happenings. Please forward your submissions to Sandy Tello ’06, 77 Pearl Street, Middletown, CT 06459 or stello@wesleyan.edu.