What it’s like to be a poster child for diversity

My name is Malcolm Odum. I am a junior food marketing major and sociology minor, and I’m from Lansdowne, Pennsylvania. I am member a of the 54th and City All Male A Cappella group, a brother of Delta Sigma Pi, a past senator of the University Student Senate and an Orientation Leader. I like exploring Philadelphia for new eateries and finding new clothing options in different thrift shops.

This is typically how I start all of my tours since I became a Hawk Host in spring 2017. But before I can tell people all of these passions and interests of mine, the things that make me who I am, they write me off as the “guy who got his red envelope handed to him” or “that guy on the website.”

Even before I was student here, I was made into a poster child for the university, which I believe has to do with my blackness.

It all started in the fall of 2016 when I was chosen to be a part of the red envelope campaign, which highlighted and promoted students who were receiving their St. Joe’s acceptance letters from college counselors, students and the Hawk mascot.

When I got my red envelope, I was overjoyed and excited that I had the honor of receiving it in person and could not wait to attend St. Joe’s in the fall. Then after being on campus as a first year student in the fall, students and faculty tended to recognize me from the video.

The notoriety was comforting at first, but it got noticeably prevalent that I would be used for marketing more frequently as I began moving into my position as a Hawk Host. Since doing photoshoots around campus during my first year, my photos have been used on brochures and on the website for random upcoming events on campus.

Using me as an example of a black face on campus is something I understood the feeling of but could not put into words, because my whole life I was educated in predominantly white institutions. 

My middle school and high school experiences prepared me for navigating through St. Joe’s and helped me to learn how to make the most out of being a person of color in a predominantly white space.

In middle school, I distinctly remember feeling “othered,” like I didn’t belong in the small, all boys private school I attended. With the support of my parents though, I stayed at the school until high school, when I ended up attending yet another predominately white institution.

My experience in high school made me understand that the best way for me to navigate a predominately white institution was to make myself visible. By not having my identity belittled or hidden from this community, I gained the respect of my peers and used my leadership to encourage difficult conversations surrounding racial microaggressions at school.

Being tokenized and used in photos and promotions is something that I was so used to that I didn’t consciously think about it until it was brought to my attention by my friends at school.

After seeing my photos around campus and on St. Joe’s advertisements, many of my friends would joke that they just needed to show a splash of color to even out the picture, or that I was only picked because “I was black and had a nice smile.”

While part of me fights back and understands that I have more to offer than the color of my skin, I know that from a picture standpoint there is definitely truth in their joking. This is something that I’ve made a note of and have used in fighting for more inclusion of black faces in advertisements.

Using me to promote St. Joe’s can only go so far though. My face and my experiences can only reach a certain amount of people. My face isn’t everyone’s story. If more people of color, specifically black people, are used in St. Joe’s media, viewers can see there is more than just one black man who attends this university.

I’m sure people are tired of seeing just me on St. Joe’s ads, and it’s definitely something I’m tired of seeing.

As a second semester junior, I can see that I am being phased out of being a poster child for diversity on campus, and I hope that other students of color fight against being the only one in the university’s ads to promote diversity when it is not actually celebrated on this campus.

Looking back on my involvement as a poster child for St. Joe’s, I try not to dwell on the negative but try to see my position as way to appeal to other students who might have a similar background as me.

I want future black students to know that it is possible to succeed at St. Joe’s, no matter the struggles and injustices faced on this campus.

Conversations start with representation of the diversity on campus, but it isn’t just me who people should see. The university should push for an honest depiction of the students on campus in order to make everyone feel welcomed and to create a platform for discussions about diversity.

Poster child or not, I will continue to support black students and help them succeed on this campus using my position in the most influential way as possible.