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Eric Jackson

Professor Granillo

English 101

15 February 2019

To Connect What Is Divided

The segregation of minority groups was a dark time in america’s history. The advent of

Jim Crow laws in the South in particular, hurt the advancement of colored people and interracial

interactions as a whole. Though the civil rights movement was successful in eliminating

segregation in the eyes of the law it persisted culturally causing many people of color to face

barriers on the path to success and equality. Affirmative action was an effective stepping stone in

increasing diversity on college campuses, but with the rise of social justice in the modern age

that very diversity is beginning to implode. Attempting to make light of this is Gabriela Moro, a

neuroscience and behavior pre-health student at the University of Notre Dame. She wrote an

essay in 2015 that focused on the topic of how this very social justice attitude that fosters

homogenous safe spaces for minority students, is hurting these students and race relations as a

whole in the long run. While not explicitly stating her own bias, Gabriela Moro in her essay

“Minority Student Clubs: Segregation or Integration” opens conversation on the topic of

minority clubs and the negative impact they have on interracial interactions; effectively citing

informed sources and creating an academically structured essay, she builds a convincing

logic-based argument on how the existing system can evolve to stimulate multicultural

immersion.
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Gabriela Moro primarily builds her argument by citing experts in fields that study student

development and studies conducted by institutions on the effects of minority versus multicultural

clubs and students perceptions of such trends. One of her most compelling cited sources also

introduces the topic of self-segregation in her essay stating, “‘Today the student bodies of our

leading colleges and universities are more diverse than ever. However, college students are

increasingly self-segregating by race or ethnicity’” (Moro 273). Her analysis that follows

effectively ties this piece of evidence together by explaining that students are more inclined to

self-segregate due to minority clubs. This piece of evidence is a cornerstone of her argument and

key to building her subtopic that minority clubs are ineffective at fostering interracial relations.

By establishing this point, she effectively highlights the flaws in the current system and opens up

her transition to how it can be solved. Furthermore, by directly connecting this evidence to

studies that focus on the topic she strengthens her argument by building credibility and

connecting multiple subtopics together. This creates a coherent and structured essay by having a

strong body that ties both the initial statement of the problem and her proposed solution at the

end of her essay together. By citing academic sources which confirm her position, Moro forms a

logic based argument that builds the audience's knowledge on the topic and the flaws present in

the current system preparing them for the studies that she uses to further highlight both the

problem and her proposed solution.

The solution that Moro proposes near the end of her essay is for more multicultural clubs

to form to promote interracial activities and interactions. Near the latter portion of her essay,

Moro analyzes a study of students which offer two opinions both advocating and opposing

multicultural clubs. While both sides proposed solutions for existing minority student programs,
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one side believed that biracial and multiracial clubs would further segregation while the other

encouraged multicultural activities and advocated for faculty and staff to get involved to create

an inclusive environment. (Moro 274). These positions mostly align with Moro’s argument and

provide collectivized evidence in a study format to show that the issue is widely shared among

college students and not exclusively to concerned researchers. This evidence also acts as a

counter argument that builds up a dissenting voice offering the alternative solution of disbanding

such clubs entirely to promote equal access. Moro then addressing the errors in this position in

her analysis and builds toward her rebuttal in the following paragraph. By analyzing a study with

two opposing viewpoints on how the topic should be resolved, Moro addresses the other side but

uses the opportunity to highlight how her solution is backed by an academic study which aligns

with her previously cited source, further strengthening her argument to criticism and building

toward her call for action which functions as a capstone to her thesis as a whole.

In her final page, Moro constructs a call for action that appropriately ties together her

thesis, sources and analysis of the situation in the goal of educating her audience and providing a

motivating voice for further study and action to highlight and combat the blatant flaws in

homogenous minority clubs. In the final page of her essay Moro states that her research supports

“that a holistic approach to the importance of diversity studies in the college curriculum, as well

as the multicultural advocacy clubs, are necessary in order to prepare all students, not just

minority students, for the diverse world and society ahead of them.” (Moro 276). Moro

throughout her essay cited academic sources and reserved her judgement on the matter only

analyzing how these sources highlighted a growing problem. By using this sentence as a holistic

summary of the necessary steps that must be taken to combat the current flaws in minority clubs,
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Moro effectively conveys her argument and advocates for change. This sentence also provides a

strong finisher to her essay as it allows the audience to consider her points and the evidence

presented as it pertains to her proposed solution. This essay structure effectively built to this

moment and succeeds in making her argument wholly effective. In the end, this sentence takes

placed right before her final two paragraphs so the she can further expand on the many solutions

to this problem and why hers is the best option.

In conclusion, Moro effectively utilizes sources to outline existing problems before

advocating how they can be solved. By structuring her essay in this way she roots her argument

in logical and effectively shifts her audience into her mindset, opening them to the solution she

proposes. She further emphasizes how the problem may be solved in her final call to action

which ties together her previous sources and proposed fixes into a final argument. Moro’s essay

is overall effective in its message and execution and highlights the problems she sees in the

current system before stimulating a conversation on how they can be fixed. Her argument was

not readily apparent throughout the essay but this further allowed each and every source to be

highlighted which all built to her subsequent rebuttal of extreme or nonexistent avenues of

change before introducing her position. In the end, Moro’s argument is entirely effective and

engages the audience to work for change.

Works Cited

Moro, Gabriela. “Minority Student Clubs: Segregation or Integration.” ​Fresh Writing​, University

of Notre Dame,

freshwriting.nd.edu/volumes/2016/essays/minority-student-clubs-segregation-or-integrati

on.