Carmen Dandjinou

26 years old
Paris, France
French Instructor at Ole Miss for 8 Months

What do you think the university is best at? “I don’t know. I heard that the university is well known for the law school, but I don’t know.”

What will be the university’s greatest challenge of the 21stcentury? “Do you want me to say diversity? Diversity, yes.”

How would you grade the university on the issue of diversity? “I think I would give a C or a B, cause I know they are working on it, but I still feel tension in the class, and you know what I am talking about. It’s hard for me to stand in front of French students. I just know because when people think about a French girl they think about a white girl. My country is just like the U.S. We have people black, yellow, and red and white. But in the south it's hard for me to have people accept that I am French and black.”

Is there anything you think can be fixed to improve campus diversity? “Like I said I think they are working on it and I think this is something that changes slowly. This is something that has to do with mentality and the way people think, and you cannot change this just like that.”