Delanie Hamilton-William rarely sees any other black students when she ventures onto campus.
“It makes me feel kind of displaced, like I don’t belong,” said Hamilton-William, a first-year biology student.
In Rieber Hall 4 North, however, Hamilton-William said she feels less isolated. The Afrikan Diaspora Studies Theme Community, created in 2008, aims to provide students with an opportunity to immerse themselves in black culture at UCLA.
“I know that at this school there’s less than 4 percent African American people, and I wanted to be in a place with a little more diversity,” Hamilton-William said. “There’s more people like me here – it’s easy to connect.”
On Wednesday night, the floor hosted the eighth annual Black History Extravaganza on the Hill to celebrate Black History Month.
The event featured a civil rights movement play, written and performed by members of the floor, as well as vocal and poetry performances and dance performances from the Nigerian Student Association dance team and the Afrikan Arts Ensemble.
The Nigerian Student Association performed a dance in colorful costumes and face paint, while the civil rights play discussed ongoing racial issues and the lives of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Black Panther Party.
Members of the floor who participated in the play encouraged audience members to take a stand against racism and build on the accomplishments of civil rights leaders.
Many students living on the floor requested to live in the themed community, while others were randomly assigned based on their housing application preferences.
Tiara Latimer, a first-year biochemistry student, said she requested to live on the floor to be closer to other people who might have backgrounds similar to hers.
“I always smile when I see someone on campus who’s African American because there are so few of us here,” Latimer said. “I went to a high school where the majority of students were black or Hispanic, so coming here was a complete culture shock.”
The floor also helps coordinate with other cultural groups on campus to help students get involved in the community.
Jabril Muhammad, a first-year undeclared social sciences student who lives on the floor, said he has attended a UCLA African Men’s Collective meeting and went to a conference for black students in Irvine through opportunities offered by the Afrikan Diaspora Studies Theme Community.
Black students who live off campus often visit the floor as well, especially to attend events, Latimer said.
“This is like our home base,” Latimer said. “It’s like we’re a big family.”
Despite its emphasis on black culture, students of many different cultural heritages have found a home on the floor. Jazlyn Ocasio, a first-year psychology student who identifies as Latina, said she thinks the floor’s multicultural community has helped residents build a sense of unity.
“I was always a minority and aware of racism, but I always focused it on my Latin American culture,” Ocasio said. “I think living here has helped me realize that we’re all going through this together, and we don’t have to be separated.”
Pierre Chellet, a third-year international development studies student, said he appreciates living on a floor with people from so many different backgrounds.
“I think there is a vicious cycle where staying in your own community can lead to racism,” Chellet said. “You never meet other types of people, so the stereotypes remain.”
Chellet, who is an international student from France, said he learned more about how racism can affect communities in the United States after the fatal police shooting of an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Mo., in August. He said he attended Ferguson demonstrations with other members of the Afrikan Diaspora Studies Theme Community.
“I think (community floors) help to make Americans more open-minded, and that’s a great thing,” Chellet said.
Isabel Leamon, a first-year undeclared social sciences student, said living in the Afrikan Diaspora Studies Theme Community has helped her learn more about black culture and the discrimination that black students can face.
“My floor assignment has been the single most educational experience of my year here,” Leamon said.