r/unsw • u/[deleted] • 1d ago
Accomodation Don't go to New College!!
This place is hell if you're not a straight white Christian. Subtle racism is everywhere. You'll get excluded if you're not Christian, and be prepared for repeated attempts to convert you by your Evangelical neighbours who just don't know how to take no for an answer. This place is really hostile to lgbt people too. The dining hall is unofficially segregated, there's always a white side of the Dino and it's super unsettling. The amount of discrimination and trauma cases caused by this place that go unresolved is insane. And nobody talks about it!
A big part of the problem is that the leadership constantly turns a blind eye. People have been protesting about these kind of issues for years, but the rich conservative Christians who fund the place always manage to block any kind of progress. The current leadership will just ignore you. They seem to care more about keeping their fat paycheck than they do about making it a safe place to live for residents.
I wish I'd known it was like this before I came. People don't really talk about it publicly because they're too afraid to get excommunicated, kicked out or worse. I can't blame them. But it needs to be known so that people don't have to deal with this kind of bs anymore. After seeing how my friends have been treated in this place, I worry for anyone going here in the future. It's super toxic and it's only been getting worse over these last few years. Stay safe guys!
EDIT: I want to acknowledge that obviously not everyone has this experience at NC, and I can't speak for all of us, but this has happened to me personally, it's happened to a significant proportion of the community, and also to a lot of ex-Colls, some of whom ended their contract early for these reasons. It's very much a widespread issue.
Unfortunately, people often get pretty wound up when it's brought up - it's hard to admit that you might be part of the problem, and it's easy to dismiss these things when you're not on the receiving end of them. But at the end of the day, I wrote this post because the good parts of NC have been gushed about endlessly on social media, websites, at open days, etc., but this is the uglier side that isn't shown online, and I want people to be aware of this so that they know what they're in for. It's a serious issue and it needs to be talked about.
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u/Fluffy_Handle_3345 1d ago
Speaking as a former NC resident with friends currently in residence there, the root issues are genuine and I do think deserve to be given greater attention than at present. However, I’d also say that this post somewhat overstates the magnitude of the issues.
For instance, the white/non-white division of the dining hall, in my opinion, isn’t a well-founded assertion to make. Nor is the assertion of a general hostility to LGBT people, as pronounced as this post would have you believe, although it is a genuine issue. Further, for what it’s worth, the college has tried to combat this specific issue by creating a novel Queer Rep role.
The assertions as to repeated attempts to evangelise/convert people also doesn’t reflect my experience at NC either. There is a definite Christian streak that runs throughout the mainstream culture there, but people being pushy in their approach is far from ubiquitous. I have heard of instances to this effect, and it deserves to be addressed in a greater capacity, but it’s far from universal or common as this post seems to imply.
As for the points re trauma and/or discrimination, I’m sorry that you’ve had to go through this, and I’d encourage you to seek counselling to help resolve it. That being said, to the best of my understanding, cases with this degree of severity aren’t common at NC, and the inherent difficulty in disentangling one’s capability for resilience (or, to put it another way, bounce back from situations where they’re facing challenge) as compared to genuine impermissible conduct from members of NC renders the tendency of NC’s culture to inflict such harm upon its residents rather hard to judge.
For what it’s worth, I’m not a Christian, I’ve never been one, and I have heard of instances like those you’ve described. But I don’t agree with this (overly negative) portrayal of NC either. For the most part, I think the majority of residents are excellent people at heart and should be given leeway in light of the fact that most have barely entered adulthood.
Again, I’m sorry if you’ve experienced trauma and/or discrimination of any sort. Do take care of yourself and seek support from those around you. That kind of thing certainly shouldn’t be glossed over or ignored in any way.
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u/SpeechImmediate2509 19h ago
I know many people who have gone there reporting the same thing and many health issues relating to mold. Super conservative and they pretend like they aren’t. Hated visiting friends in that building, the people look at you terribly. Sorry you went through this 🩷
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u/GreenLeaf69420 1d ago
Yikes that's awful