Isla Vista

Reflections on the Unseen Pieces of Isla Vista

Graduation week passes in a blur for those non-graduates and leaves those moving on in a blank stupor when confronted with this thing called life. During commencement week those left behind see the grads running around attempting to finish up their last classes, buying or renting their caps/gowns, trying to control their friends and family while everyone comes into town to visit. This graduation madness continues while the non-grads try to tough it out till their fourth year graduation (hopefully). This past week, finals and dead week actually, I keep reflecting on the past four years at the lovely, beachfront property that is Santa Barbara. Let’s face it. The reason most come to this school is not for the academics, but for the location. As they say, it is all about “location, location, location”.  

So if you are still wondering why do people come to college? Well, I cannot speak for all of the University of California population, but I personally came to college in order to avoid life, which seems to be the reason of many, definitely not of the few. Being a fourth year, I stop to consider this celebration, this ceremony, this event that concludes a joyous, sorrowful, difficult, easy, and mostly memorable four years of my life. These past four years full of partying, procrastinating, studying, sleeping, drinking, dancing, crying, cooking, and everything in between will never leave my mind; I am sure of that.

However, have you or do we ever stop to think about the minorities in our community? Do well-off students or young adults, as we think we are, stop to consider the unsafe space that Isla Vista is for the queer community, the people of color community, the children growing up in Isla Vista, the homeless people, the can collectors? I highly doubt most of us do.

Think about this. When we are off struggling to pass or achieve A’s in our classes, the families in Isla Vista support their children by working at Panda Express, Wendy’s, or Domino’s Pizza on campus.

While we frolic in the water, surf at the beach, wake board on the shore, walk puppies on the sand, can collectors (most trying to support themselves and especially their small children) scatter themselves throughout Isla Vista seeking for precious aluminum to recycle and return for money; aluminum which we, as college students, take for granted by tossing all the cans away after long games of beer pong.

 The hardest thing to stomach as an undergraduate in this community – at least for me— definitely revolves around the hate crimes popping up on campus and around Isla Vista. How can we come to a school intended to serve the public (I mean, it is a “public school”), but watch with almost no resistance as the queer community and the queer people of color community struggle to find safety among the University walls which most of us consider a second home? How can we stand by and watch as racist acts happen around us, as sexist acts occur on a daily basis, and as some students who have every bit of right to be learning here just as much as others do, get shoved to the sidelines, sometimes violently.

Recently, another hate crime in Isla Vista happened, and in order to not make names public, I will only mention that it is unfair to the communities living near the University and the underrepresented populations attending this campus to be harassed, slandered, chased, yelled at, and beaten up just because of the color of their skin, class, social standing, or sexual orientation.

I believe we are better than this. The UC system should be better than this and in my opinion, we – the students— need to change this instead of standing to the side while watching our brothers and sisters, our peers, hit the concrete and fall to ground because of our community’s lack of support for minorities.

In all honesty, it is time to stand up against oppression, to finally resist, and reclaim the University space for everyone. It is in all our best interest to fight against the injustices we see now in the world instead of waiting until we are off in the so-called real world where it is much harder to stop these large problems; these “isms” we hear so often in our humanities classes: “racism, sexism, classism, etc”.

It is time to accomplish this resistance now, where it is easier to achieve in this environment rather than in the corporate world or the job market of today. Before you leave this bubble of Isla Vista, think about those you have stepped on, because we all have done so, at least once in life, in order to succeed and consider attempting to help those less privileged than you.