For Black students enrolled at large universities, a common barrier placed between them and the pursuit of their education was a form of silent discrimination. Many of these minority students perceived a "subtle racism" during their college careers, which made itself known more in avoidance than by direct confrontation. This form of racism seemed to originate primarily from Anglo students and even some faculty.

After speaking with many white students, Hewitt and Seymour, sociological researchers at the University of Colorado, Boulder, believed the concerns accurately represented the perceptions of antagonism from white science and engineering students on college campuses. During the course of their research, Hewitt and Seymour discovered resentment and hostility from Anglo students toward many minority students of color. What most of these students resented was not the minority presence, but the financial assistance given to those minorities without consideration of financial need.

In a demanding field such as Computer Science, such resentment can not only cripple interactions between individuals, but it can have a significant impact on the quality of studies. This form of racism can force many to leave the field in favor of a "kinder" environment. This can be especially damaging especially when there are so few minorities in Computer Science to begin with and the shortage of computer scientists is growing at an alarming rate.

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