I’ve worked with reentry and education programs in jails in NYC since graduating from Wesleyan in 2009. My educational background almost always comes up in conversation as I do transition/reentry counseling and talk to incarcerated folks about going back to school. When I tell people I majored in AFAM, they almost always raise their eyebrows, laugh, or both. I’m white. The vast majority of people incarcerated at Rikers Island are black. Incarcerated black New Yorkers find it funny that a well-off white girl went to college to study black people.

It’s an understandable misinterpretation, since many of the people I talk to either have limited exposure to higher education, or have interacted with a strand of it that is heavily vocational/professional and distinctly NOT liberal arts. Of course- as I am happy to explain any chance I get- AFAM isn’t a way to study black people. AFAM is about what it means to be human. AFAM let me study whiteness. AFAM made me comfortable seeing race, talking about race, and thinking about race. AFAM books are my most prized on my bookshelves, the ones I can remember passages from, and the ones I relate most to my everyday life. AFAM gave me the context to know when I walk into a jail filled with black bodies that there is an undeniable historical continuity between American slavery and today’s criminal justice system. AFAM taught me the dangers of accidentally or unknowingly accepting the white savior complex that is so easy to develop amongst other well-meaning white people and priv ileged peers. And AFAM taught me both to always question myself (my assumptions, my actions, my role) and to stand up for what I believe in, even when it means going against the tide or putting up a fight.

As a Wesleyan graduate with a major in AFAM, I’m already well on my way to a successful and exciting career. I feel very lucky to have been able to do such interesting and challenging work for the past five years, work that feels like it matters. I’ve worked within the New York City Office of the Mayor, and been recognized for my leadership by the NYC Department of Correction, the NYC Department of Education, and an innovative nonprofit called the College Initiative. I’ve participated in highly selective fellowships, like the Fellowship for Emerging Leaders in Public Service at NYU’s Research Center for Leadership in Action at the Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

This fall, I’m starting a Master of Public Administration program at the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania. I don’t know yet exactly what my future will look like, but whatever my next steps, I am completely sure that my AFAM education at Wesleyan made me a fuller employee, colleague, mentor, leader, citizen, community member, activist, friend, and human being. I would hate to think that others after me won’t have that same opportunity, if the Wesleyan administration doesn’t begin to recognize the unique value of a robust AFAM community. In the meantime, the current Wesleyan students who are bringing light to the sad state of AFAM’s affairs make me so proud to be a Wesleyan alum, and even moreso an AFAM graduate. I hope that Wesleyan re-prioritizes AFAM so that I can be proud of my alma mater not only for its inspiring student body, but also for its brave and forward-thinking administration.

Tevah is a member of the class of 2009.