Does anybody know where I can find the black students at Columbia?

I’ll get right to it: I barely see any black male students on Columbia University’s campus. I do not know where they can be found.

When I first started here in 2013, I thought, “I bet I’ll meet some black students in my classroom.”

And sure enough in my ethnic studies seminar, where about 150 students were enrolled, about 10 of them, including me, were black males.

That was my initiation to my first year here at Columbia.

Now in 2015, and ever since, I have hardly met another black, male student classmate. I think I have had one.

The class thing could be complete coincidence, but my interests are pretty wide-ranging.

I entered as a Political Science major and now I am changing to English Literature. Since 2013 I have taken classes in political theory, art in China, Lit Hum, Asian humanities, the music of the brain, and others.

Outside of the classroom, that is in the library and walking around campus, I don’t see black male students often. Maybe a few if you were looking for an hour.

I am sitting in Lerner right now, and I cannot see a black male student among the 30 fellow students on this floor.

I know that the Columbia University student body is my extended family but I must say that I feel like an alien who has learned to blend in with his kin.

And I can not help but imagine that other black and/or brown students feel the same way.

Why isn’t anyone saying this? I’ve noticed that people here protest for things that immediately affect them or grandiose causes like climate change. Columbia students have access to the world’s best education but lack the emotional intelligence to act on the lack of cultural diversity.

Are we being conditioned to accept this lack of diversity? Is this preparation for the real world? You tell me.