I attended the University of Chicago, one of the most elite universities in the country and world. Privileged places like the U of C are making strides in opening their doors to low-income students like myself, but this didn’t automatically eliminate the classism that existed and still exists today. In reflecting on my experience, here are just some of the classist things I experienced as a student there.
- “You haven’t traveled in how long?” I was somewhat blessed to find funded travel opportunities while in school, despite my limited financial resources. However, during my junior year of college I didn’t travel anywhere (*shocker*)! I did go on a trip in the fall of my senior year and I told my friend it was my first plane ride in a year. Her reaction was one of shock. “I can’t imagine not going anywhere for so long.” The classism behind that statement made me uncomfortable. Travel is a privilege for the financially stable, not a norm for many working class families.
- “You stayed in Chicago for college? What a failure!” I was born and raised in Chicago and went to college at the U of C on a full scholarship. A doctoral student once asked me where I was from. I told him from Chicago. He chuckled and asked, “Ever planning to leave?” Among the privileged, there is a norm of going away for college. However, this isn’t a reality for many working class students because of lack of scholarships, necessity of helping out at home, and different cultural norms. To belittle anyone for not going away for college is classism at its best.
- “You need to be more intellectual” During college, I dated a student that often criticized me (and others for that matter) for not always having intellectual conversational topics. While he had been accustomed to talking about politics over the dinner table, I grew up in a working class immigrant household in which I was never used to that. The standards for what “better communication is” very much has a classist undertone.
- “No food for you Saturday nights!” Our dining halls are closed after lunchtime on Saturday, so students have to find alternatives for dinner. While this doesn’t seem like a big deal, for some low-income students it means having to spend the scarce money they have on meals. Having the dining halls closed is a classist assumption that everyone can afford to eat out.
- “Let’s go paintballing for $25!” Freshmen at UChicago are placed into “houses” to build residential communities. In my house, there were house trips pretty much every week, but I rarely participated because of the costs. From paintballing to weekly dinners, I didn’t feel comfortable flippantly spending money. “Fun” was built around a culture of money, which excluded low-income students like myself.
- “Some students are too poor for study abroad.” Though I never studied abroad officially through UChicago, many of my friends did. From low-income students I heard about the privilege that comes into sharper focus abroad when some students are traveling every weekend, while some can’t afford to feed themselves with the high costs of food. To alleviate the financial burdens abroad, the school should allot more grants to low-income students. Not doing so perpetuates the classism and privilege of study abroad.
- “Stay away from the South Side!” Our school exists in the middle of the South Side of Chicago, with many bordering neighborhoods being plagued with poverty and violence. During orientation, students are unofficially taught not to venture past 61st street and to avoid the green line train. While safety should be emphasized in an urban environment, it can be taught without perpetuating classist and racist stereotypes towards disenfranchised communities.
- “$60 to enjoy your senior week!” Senior Week is a week filled with events for graduating seniors. Unfortunately, the cost was $60 for a weeklong pass. While costs varied for individual events, I know many (myself included) that were dissuaded from participating because of the costs.
- “No Resources for First-Gen and Low-Income Students” During my time at UChicago, there was no staff member or official programming for first-generation and/or low-income students. While first-generation students are not exclusively low-income, most are. To not provide a staff-member or programming ensures marginalization for students that may need more support.
- “Why are you here?” I placed into precalculus my fall quarter of freshman year, which was understandable not having taken calculus (my high school didn’t offer it). At my first meeting with my teacher, the first thing she asked me was, “Why are you here?” To her, students not in upper level math classes were strange and didn’t belong at UChicago. Her reaction is riddled with ignorance of academic disparities due to access and demeans hardworking students like myself that made it to that school despite obstacles.
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Lynda Lopez is a 2014 college graduate of the University of Chicago. As a Questbridge Scholar, she majored in Romance Languages and Literature. While a student, Lynda co-founded the Socioeconomic Diversity Alliance, a student group dedicated to low-income and first-generation students at U of C.
yes, not being able to go paintballing for $25 constitutes classism.
My classist experiences at Uni were, overhearing staff members talking about students ” who shouldn’t be here”; mentioning problems class causes and told by a lecturer “don’t be boring”; a social sciences lecturer complaining about plumbers being paid more than him, overlooking that women could only get higher pay with a better education; the same social sciences lecturer saying people are only working class because they are too stupid to become middle class; but the main classism was not expressed in anything said – just social exclusion.
“You need to be more intellectual!” Your ex-boyfriend sounds like a jerk, but being intellectual is kind of the WHOLE POINT of university! I’d hate to see the day when we’re not allowed to be intellectual, because it’s exclusive of people from working-class backgrounds.
This is silly – Lynda isn’t saying that no one should be “allowed” to be intellectual, just that students shouldn’t be pressured or criticized based on their level of intellectualism…
Roxane, I beg to differ to your description on what you beheld during your walk to the SSN office. My friend and I (asian girl) walked to their on a sunny summer day and all we got were whistlewblowing and “modest” commentary. It was a nice ego-booster for her, and the only danger we felt was a guy approaching us and unable to take no for an answer. A trip to the SSN office does not count as a trip to the south side of Chicago. Were you an international student during your time in the College? I am kind of include to believe so because you mentioned going to the offices. And it’s a bit of a no-brainer that your parents weren’t in the U.S during your college years. U.S 1st generation students can’t be compared to international students. Your upbringing is by far different than say a more homogeneous upbringing in the United Kingdom. While the only obstacle you may had to overcome was economic, others such as myself, had to overcome various socioeconomic factors ranging from stigmas correlated to culture and economics like poverty and finance. It is like comparing rice noodles to wheat noodles. I certainly would be mad if an international student such as yourself equally matched your prior experiences to a background as us 1st-generation students. upward mobility is needed, The differences should be acknowledged, and in doing so, solutions and idea should be brought up to decrease that percentage of failure among the student body.
A good organization for poor and 1st generation students needs better examples of classism than the ones listed here. There is a fine line in between raising awareness and victimization, a fine line in between intelligent persuasion and pointless complaining, a fine line in between interpreting things the right way and misinterpreting. Ever thought that “Why are you in this class?” is a rhetoric question, to which the teacher had the answer “To learn”? Ever thought that “Careful when going to the south-side” meant “Be Careful” and not “Be careful of black people”? Ever thought that ‘I can’t imagine never going anywhere for so long’ meant ‘We should do something together, something fun around Chicago’ rather than ‘What a failure!”.
Surely we can come up with actual examples of classism, rather than misinterpreted facts and inner complexes. The world needs to change, but let’s do it smartly!
Frankly, I’m not sure many students who have to take precalculus in college do belong at the University of Chicago, unless they have some great talent in another field (published poet, award winning artist, played Carnegie Hall, etc.). It’s not a matter of those who are unprepared not having worked just as hard or harder than those who were prepared. One of the hardest working students I ever met never got past Algebra II in high school, because he virtually taught himself. I still wouldn’t admit him to a top 5 research institution. He simply lacks the background knowledge necessary to make one successful at a leading university. Universities are not charities and people need to stop expecting them to serve primarily as catalysts for social change. A university exists, first and foremost, to expand knowledge to as great a degree as is possible. Someone beggining as much as two years or more behind his or her peers is severely handicapped in that regard. If I were deciding college admissions I wouldn’t accept someone without any advanced classes for the same reason that I wouldn’t accept a 9th grader. They lack the prerequisite knowledge to be as successful as their peers. As a POC from an underserved community, I totally agree with your other points on classism at elite universities (I graduated from Yale last year— arguably even more pretentious and insufferably WASPy than UChicago) but I think there is often a misplaced idea that colleges owe something to us. I was on a full ride because my mother made $14000 last year, so I think it’s hard to argue that Yale owes me anything I haven’t already gotten.