Their idea stemmed from the second rise of the Black Lives Matter movement in the US. 'I think that in the past year there has been a big push to end racial inequality and racism worldwide. We felt like our studies and this semester project would be our best platform to aid other researchers working in the domain,’ says Chiara Poli, one of the students performing the research. In addition to this, a recent anonymous post on the Instagram page @UTConfessions reinforced their decision to explore this particular social issue. The post was about the experience of a student who left the UT due to racism.
'Through this project, we hope to create a baseline of knowledge and data that shows that there are students facing discrimination on campus based on race, so that steps can be taken for further research aiming to solve this issue,’ says fellow groupmate, Margo Dietrich. 'Identifying existing problems and creating means through which they will be solved, will create a more inclusive and safer environment for students and staff.’
The project is still in its infancy. The students have sent out a survey regarding student and staff experiences with racism, which is still gathering responses. The current number of responses they have collected thus far is a little under 120. The survey is still open till the 18th of November, and therefore still needs to be analyzed.
