I remember the first time my father took me surfing. I was twelve, and we were vacationing in Hawaii. My surf instructor was young, too, like me, and we practiced for a good hour on the sandy white beach before heading out into the ocean.

Nerisa Arias, the Assistant Director for the Higher Education Opportunity Program at Fordham University, shares her experience as an Afro-Latina at a predominantly white institution.

What makes a person who sees an opportunity to behave with kindness and compassion choose not to act that way purely along identity lines?