montez
brownlee
"In my sophomore year, I was a sponsor in Wig. I was expected to be a mentor and a support system to the students I lived in the hall with. A majority of the students I lived with were not students of color and had oppositional politics to my own. I often got into arguments where I had to defend people of color and minorities in general. Having to do that throughout my sophomore year was very violent and harmful for me."
jessica
manzano-valdez
"Wig 1 Back was my sponsor group in my first year. I remember Pomona was sold to me as this diverse place of higher education where I could find people similar to me everywhere.
When I got to my sponsor group, I was the only Latina. For a large part of my first year, I really didn't feel like I belonged at Pomona because of my identity.
I remember when we would get together in the hallway to talk, some people would say some really uncool things. But others wouldn't say anything about it. I didn't feel comfortable speaking out because no one else saw it as problematic because it didn't affect them.
When I was in that space, I remember thinking, 'Where are my people?'"