DNA project surprises, enlightens West Chester students

Kristin E. Holmes, Inquirer Staff Writer Posted: Monday, May 13, 2013, 7:16 AM

Before he walked into an honors communications course at West Chester University, Grant Hubbard's ethnic identity was the stuff of skin color and oral history.

He was the white guy with European roots whose family came to the United States shortly after the Mayflower arrived.

Then science took over.

The swipe of a cotton swab inside his cheek and a DNA test indicated that he had ancestors from Europe, and elsewhere.

"My results came back 60 percent Southeast Asian," said Hubbard, 20, of Downingtown. "That's quite a bit different from what my family had always thought we were."

Hubbard is among 350 students who have participated in professor Anita Foeman's DNA Discussion Project, a course at the Chester County school that takes a scientific look at each student's genetic makeup.

The class is an effort to look at diversity in a way that shows connections instead of differences. Students set up websites and write papers about the results.

"It's much harder to totally write somebody off when you realize that 'I have some of that in me as well,' " Foeman said.

The results often shock students, prompting them to reexamine their identities, question their relatives, and start researching family history.

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DNA project surprises, enlightens West Chester students