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- The term AHANA is not degrading, inaccurate or
stereotypical. It is creative, unique and a symbol of
pride. AHANA was not developed to segregate its members
from the remainder of the Boston College community. It
was developed to unite its members for the good of all.
To inspire cultural awareness and destroy the void among
students of different racial backgrounds. We do not want
to feel "minor."
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- These words, these feelings, were presented to the
Boston College Board of Trustees a decade ago by several
undergraduate students arguing that "minority" was an
offensive and unacceptable term when applied to people of
color. Their recommendation, soon adopted, called for the
use of the term AHANA, an acronym for African-American,
Hispanic, Asian and Native American. Today, AHANA is an
accepted part of the Boston College vocabulary. Language
terminology can be a powerful agent for change in a
society. Some years ago, T. S. Eliot wrote, "Every vital
development in language is a development of feeling as
well." From Aristophanes: "High thoughts must have high
language." The change, then, from the use of the term
minority to AHANA at Boston College has been both
symbolic and motivational, one of feeling and high
thought.
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- Certainly, terminology factors prominently into the
retention of students of color attending predominately
white colleges and universities in America. There is
perhaps no groups of students more heartened by the
recent debate over the use of the term African-American
vs. Black than the AHANA students at Boston College. They
are excited because October 9, 1989 will mark the tenth
anniversary since students of color at Boston College
rejected the term minority and replaced it with the more
positive term, AHANA.
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- Since the name change, several fine things have
transpired for AHANA students at Boston College. First,
there is a profound sense of community among the shared
sectors of the AHANA population on campus. Also, they
have moved from tiny quarters with two small offices to
an entire house centrally located in the mainstream of
the campus and where their immediate neighbors are
university vice president, deans and so on. The AHANA
House, as it is affectionately called, has now become too
small to accommodate the large number of students who
avail themselves of the support services provided by the
office.
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- More importantly, however, are the numbers of AHANA
students who are graduating from Boston College. The
retention rate of 17 percent among AHANA Students at the
time I assumed responsibility for the "Office of Minority
Student Programs" ten years ago has been increased to a
present retention rate of 83 percent. This is a figure
for the average students identified by Boston College's
Admissions and AHANA Student Programs offices as
requiring support services in order to negotiate the
university. While it is clear the name change alone was
not an instant panacea to the difficulties being
experienced by AHANA students to Boston College - a full
array of support services, including committed staff,
tutorials, academic advisement, personal counseling and
performance monitoring, are crucial elements as well - it
is unarguable that the change in name contributed
enormously to success.
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- A brief description of how the term AHANA came into
existence is illuminating, as it speaks to student
leadership and empowerment and provides food for thought
for directors of retention programs who all too
frequently bemoan the fact that students of color do not
avail themselves of services provided by their
offices.
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- Consider the following: Shortly after my arrival at
Boston College in 1978, I was approached by two students,
one black, the other Hispanic. These students, acting as
emissaries of fellow students of color, informed me they
were offended by the term "minority" in the name of the
office that had recently been established to provide
support to students of color at Boston College. Because
they were offended by the term, I was told, substantial
numbers of students of color vowed never to come anywhere
near the office of Minority Student Programs. I asked
Alfred, a Hispanic student from Bayamon, Puerto Rico, and
Valerie, a Black woman from Jersey City, why the term
minority was offensive. Both informed me that it was
unsettling to have come from cities where one day, they
were an overwhelming majority and the next day, on
arriving at Boston College, they were cast into the role
of minority. Further explanation provided me with several
valuable lessons.
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- First, they cited the dictionary definition of
"minority" as further evidence that the term is
pejorative and means "less than." Furthermore, they
pointed, the term minority conveyed similarly demeaning
implications as did the expressions culturally deprived,
educationally disadvantaged, underprivileged, lower class
and so on. Both of these young people said that one day
they hoped to have children, and when they did, they did
not want them to view themselves as less than
anything.
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- A second revelation from these students was of a
demographic nature. When one adds together all the
persons of color in the world, they pointed out, they
outnumber Caucasians by a margin of 11-to-1. Both of
these young people were emphatic in their view that they
felt a kinship - and chose to identify - with the worlds
majority, and therefore could in no way ever be
considered a minority. Yet, another revelation from
Valerie was that the Black students at Boston College
fully subscribed to that principle of Kwanza, which
speaks to self-determination: "Kujichagalia" - "to
define, to name and speak for ourselves instead of being
spoken for by others." A manifestation of their resolve
was to flatly reject the label minority.
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- Having eloquently stated their case, these students
indicated that they wished to ask the university's board
of trustees to consider changing the term "minority" to
AHANA. The concept was enthusiastically embraced by many
across the campus, and at their meeting, the trustees
warmly received the student presentation. Afterwards, the
students returned to my office, reported that the
presentation was a huge success and asked if the
"Minority Student Programs" sign could be removed from
the office door. From that day, we have been the Office
of AHANA Student Programs at Boston College.
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- Though much work remains ahead, we are pleased to
report that the Office of AHANA Student Programs recently
was identified by the Educational Testing Services in its
report, Improving Minority Retention in Higher Education:
A search for Effective Institutional Practices as one of
four model programs in the United States.
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