Fabienne Doucet ’95
WHAT WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE AT MESSIAH AS A PERSON OF COLOR?
I experienced a great deal of support from organizations like Phi Omega Chi (People of Color United for Christ) and the gospel choir. On the downside, I was the first person of color some white students at Messiah had ever met in person. Coupled with being the first Haitian person many people had ever met, I sometimes felt as if I was under a microscope.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO STUDENTS?
Our country is currently in an extremely fragile place when it comes to deciding what the future of race relations will look like for our children. We are beyond simple dichotomies, beyond facile generalization, but what we are most certainly not is post-racial. Therefore, I would encourage all Messiah students to engage the subject, to reflect on it, pray about it, ask questions—even uncomfortable and difficult ones—and be open to the possibility that one’s own reality may not even come close to the reality of another person, but that makes it no less valid or deserving of respect and consideration.