JAN 30, 2025 | NEWS | By Margaret Freeman and Olivia Link
After members of the Colorado College Student Government Association (CCSGA) set goals for the new year, Gina Jeong ‘25 from the Internal Affairs Committee turned the group’s attention to the results of a recent survey conducted by the Internal Affairs Committee which revealed that the majority of students of color at Colorado College do not feel included in the campus scene.
Students spent the first meeting of the semester in smaller groups brainstorming ways to make Colorado College a more inclusive place for BIPOC and less affluent students who may be feeling excluded on campus. Many of the discussions revolved around the role skiing and winter sports play at CC.
Several members mentioned that many of the opportunities students have to meet one another are inaccessible to those without the financial capital to engage in them. Sophia Murphy ‘27 illuminated the downside of CC’s unique schedule, describing block breaks as opportunities for students to “express their wealth.”
Furthermore, CC’s athletic communities and teams are almost entirely white, leaving many BIPOC students out of athletic community building. During the 2023-2024 academic year, 389 students were varsity athletes out of 2,388 enrolled. Seventy-one athletes identified as BIPOC.
As ADEI lead Rakim Johnson ‘26 pointed out, CC cannot be an inclusive community if our campus culture excludes people, intentionally or otherwise. Many CCSGA members alluded to CC’s ‘brand’ as a skiing school, which tends to be less accessible to nonwhite students and those without the money to participate. Johnson suggested focusing on our general love for the outdoors and highlighted Outdoor Ed’s recent steps toward making the outdoors more inclusive.
Johnson said a lot of the administration’s attempts to foster ‘inclusion’ end up feeling rather sterile and that students need to expand their social circles in less formal settings.