The University of Maryland creates a "safe space" for white students to talk about race

The Counseling Center of the University of Maryland has created a group called White Awake to give white students a place to discuss race relations.

This week, pamphlets were posted in the school and on social media: "Do you sometimes feel uncomfortable and confused before, during or after interactions with racial and ethnic minorities?"

The pamphlet then described White Awake as a group that "provides a safe space for white students to explore their experiences, questions, reactions and feelings."

Some students turned to social media to express their dissatisfaction with the creation of the group. A student tweeted"POC students have never had the luxury of being offered spaces to learn the reality of the world."

The counseling center maintained its decision to create the group but announced that it would stop using the pamphlet and change the name of the group to Anti-Racism and Allied Group.

The counseling center website has been modified to reflect the new name. In addition, the wording referring to white students has been deleted.

Noah Collins, the group leader, and Sharon Kirkland-Gordon, director of the counseling center, released a press release Thursday night admitting their lack of clarity. They wrote that the purpose of the group was to help "white students become more culturally competent, so that they can better participate in creating a more inclusive environment at the university." 39, University of Maryland ".

In the fall of 2017, 43.3% of the University of Maryland's students were classified as minorities, according to university data.

The group was to meet on Thursdays from 10am to 11.30am.