The purpose behind the Own Your ISU Experience section is to empower students to control their own ISU narrative. Often time students, especially marginalized students, are tokenized by Predominately White Institutions (PWI’s) to create a false narrative to recruit students. Once recruited, students are left with no support systems or resources to help them navigate their campus journey.
By empowering students to control their own narratives through digital stewardship, students will now be able to mold the future student experience and revel in their own.
"We really should talk more about the ways student leadership for students of color almost always mean being the force of change on campus. The way that administration plays "the game" of being silent in public because they're too afraid of jeopardizing their careers but secretly cheering you on. They never teach you the value of your labor post the university. The way they slander you when you no longer serve a purpose or discredit your work because you decide to no longer be under control. For Black student leaders there is a very thin line between being made out to be a positive role model for other students to follow or a problem in need of correction"
The author posted a question on social media asking for volunteers to share their testimonials about being tokenized at Predominantly White Institutions. The student testimonials were taken with the consent of each student. Each student agreed that their words will be used on an online platform to describe and explain the way they have been used as a token at Predominantly White Institutions.
"I felt lied to and like all I was to the University was a face to get more money"
The author posted a question on social media asking for volunteers to share their testimonials about being tokenized at Predominantly White Institutions. The student testimonials were taken with the consent of each student. Each student agreed that their words will be used on an online platform to describe and explain the way they have been used as a token at Predominantly White Institutions.
"Hired to work in admissions, I was the only Black staff member, one of the two BIPOC. Whenever BIPOC families had questions they would be directed to me. I was asked multiple times to be in marketing material but I said no. I had to question why I was hired in the first place. Working for admissions I was supposed to be a representative for the university but it always felt like a lie. I didn't represent the university and I definitely didn't want to. I worked there because I needed the money, didn't make it any less exhausting. They wanted me to be "honest" about my experience but represent the university in a positive light - wasn't possible. Any chance I got to talk with a BIPOC family I would be completely honest about my experience so they did not come to the university and experience the same thing I did"
The author posted a question on social media asking for volunteers to share their testimonials about being tokenized at Predominantly White Institutions. The student testimonials were taken with the consent of each student. Each student agreed that their words will be used on an online platform to describe and explain the way they have been used as a token at Predominantly White Institutions.
"I used to get tokenized by the honors program at my undergrad. They used to use my image to portray diversity in the honors program to the donors and even asked me to present my research over diverse student needs as a show that they were doing the work to support the achievement of diverse students. But it felt very fake to me because I felt like they were purposefully picking me to tokenize because I am light-skinned rather than picking a student that better represents the limited diversity in honors. They also used to ask me how they could better create more diversity yet they didn't even accept me into the program on my first try due to low test scores. So, I felt like their inability to be accessible towards POC used to make me feel angry and frustrated."
The author posted a question on social media asking for volunteers to share their testimonials about being tokenized at Predominantly White Institutions. The student testimonials were taken with the consent of each student. Each student agreed that their words will be used on an online platform to describe and explain the way they have been used as a token at Predominantly White Institutions.
"Being the only Black girl in a psych course and when it came time to partner I always had to be by myself because all the white kids turned away and was with each other... It's just crazy how the university tries to say diversity is their main priority yet they have students and professors who do not demonstrate it. Because, it shows that diversity is not truly one of their values, so it's a scam needless to say"
The author posted a question on social media asking for volunteers to share their testimonials about being tokenized at Predominantly White Institutions. The student testimonials were taken with the consent of each student. Each student agreed that their words will be used on an online platform to describe and explain the way they have been used as a token at Predominantly White Institutions.
On Being Included by 
Taylor developed the Own Your ISU Experience resource guide during her Spring 2021 practicum. The guide provides socio-cultural context about the importance of collecting and curating evidence of personal experiences. The guide is intended for Iowa State University students. To learn more about Taylor's learning experience, please see her blog post Memory and Technology.
The library's collections and services are available to all ISU students, faculty, and staff and Parks Library is open to the public.
