Sophomore Pre-major Nicole Burns and Sophomore Creative Writing major Annika Le know exactly what it feels like to be put in a box. Burns is half-Black and half-white, and Le is half-Vietnamese and half-white. With their mixed identities, many often judge them for being one race or the other.

Burns and Le are the presidents of the recently-created club, Re-Mixed. Re-Mixed is a student association for those that identify as multiracial and multiethnic. It hopes to also include discussions so members can connect through their shared experiences.

They had talked about their shared mixed experiences at a race caucus hosted by the Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA) before their first year. When they came back to campus, they were surprised that the club didn’t already exist.

“It was a necessary thing to create a place for people who have shared experiences who don’t feel like they fit into their cultural club or might not even have one and create a space where everyone is welcome,” Le said. “Like people who are seeking those places but don’t fit into them.”

Le, looking for her home on campus, joined the Vietnamese Student Association and felt like she didn’t fit in since she could sense confusion until she explained that she was half-Vietnamese. She had a multi-ethnic club in high school and felt comfortable there.

“For me, I often pass as white or as something else, but my brother, most people know he’s Asian right away,” Le said. “But the one place that I’ve ever actually felt safe, and good, solid on my identities, was in Re-Mixed or in high school, we had the same sort of club, or in the race caucus.”

Part of the multiracial experience, according to Le and Burns, is that they’re generalized into whatever box people want to fit them in, based off of microaggressions. They said it’s not from only the “white” side, but also from the people of color (POC), monoracial side.

“People obviously know that multiracial people exist, but I feel like it’s often an experience that is swept away,” Le said.

Burns and Le don’t like identifying with either POC or with white. They prefer to identify as mixed or multiracial. For Le, part of the reason is because when she’s on either side of her family, she feels like she doesn’t fit in.

“My Vietnamese grandmother sees us as her white grandkids,” Le said. “We’re not Vietnamese in her eyes, and she’s always reminding my Vietnamese cousins to ‘Remember to marry Vietnamese people so we can keep the Vietnamese blood.’”

Jimmy McCarty is the current Director of OMA and identifies as biracial. He has acted as the advisor for Re-Mixed club and helped Burns and Le to start the club.

“One of the things that multiracial students regularly say is they don’t feel quite at home with identity-based clubs that are focused race or ethnicity because they sometimes feel like their experience is really different than their other folks’ experience or that they want to be at different places at once,” McCarty said. “So, a space where they can explore being multiracial was really appealing to them.”

McCarty is also responsible for giving the club their name: Re-Mixed.

“We’re still trying to figure out the name and find meaning to it,” Le said. “I feel like it’s one of those terms, that’s so cool and so many things can come through that overtime it’ll solidify.”

Giving a space and discussing their multiracial experiences has helped Burns become comfortable with her own identity.

“I didn’t know where I fit in when I was younger in life, I guess,” Burns said. “Definitely coming to college and like going through a lot of different experiences and stuff like that, has definitely opened my eyes, and I’m definitely a lot more comfortable than I was…Having the space to share experiences and open up about things that other people couldn’t relate to is very helpful to me as well.”

The club has only had one meeting so far, but Le and Burns are hopeful and excited that they can make this space into their home. Re-Mixed will hold meetings every other Tuesday at the Student Center 322, with the next meeting being held on Jan. 29.

“We were expecting like five people, or like a few people,” Burns said. “We had 20 people in total there almost, and we’re still getting like members joining. So, I’m really excited for our next meeting, to meet everyone, and to open the space up.”

Rania may be reached at
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