The College Fix

‘Community members’ need education on ‘affinity housing’

University of Washington’s plan to set aside a specific residence hall floor only for black students is not “segregation,” according to an administrator.

Black students at the Seattle campus can choose to live only with members of their own race starting this fall, according to The Seattle Medium.

“Dorm rooms on the 8th floor of Lander Hall on the UW ‘s Seattle campus will be set aside by Fall 2024 for Black students,” the news site reported.

But some resistance to the “black affinity housing” is expected, according to Magdalena Fonseca. She leads the university’s Ethnic Cultural Center.

“You’re going to get community members from outside the university that have a perspective that creating a specific affinity housing group might be seen as segregation,” Fonseca said, as reported by the Seattle Medium. “A lot of people are supportive, but that doesn’t mean everyone is.”

She said it will be “very difficult” to educate people about the new housing, but the outreach is “something to embrace.”

“There aren’t a lot of spaces where Black students can feel safe and feel like they can find others that look like them or share similar cultural experiences and backgrounds,” Fonseca also said. “Creating a space in the residential halls was really important.”

The news outlet also reported:

Fonseca is certain that creating Black affinity housing at UW is one step towards an inclusive environment for Black students. “As more and more students start to spread the word that this exists on campus, that is what is going to bring more students to consider UW as a college choice.”

A presentation on the new housing told students they could be a “part of history.”

Though the presentation said the housing is “open to all incoming and returning students,” that is not how the university described it to the media.

“It was a natural idea to invite the [Office of Minority & Diversity] staff to help inform what college students are going through, specifically Black students on campus,” Fonseca, the cultural center director said.

“I hope that black students get a sense of community and support early on, and easily get to build and maintain meaningful relationships with students that also share similar identities and experiences,” a student quote, highlighted on the information page, also states.

Students must also, according to the housing office presentation, “commit to actively maintaining a living environment that is supportive of Black culture and the development of community and comradery.”

Residents must also promise to further their “knowledge…of racism, discrimination, and systems of oppression.”

Western Washington University also has “Black Affinity Housing,” as previously reported by The College Fix.

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IMAGES: University of Washington; College Fix edits

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