<p>One of the guidebooks (or maybe the school's website) mentioned "community" as something positive about Earlham. What really does this mean? Also, one of the guidebooks (I'm pretty sure it wasn't the website!) mentioned about a lot of consumption of alcohol behind closed doors (I guess this is worse than out in the open). Do most people drink? A lot? And finally, how is Earlham on aid, especially merit aid?</p>
<p>Our son was accepted and we are planning a visit. Sounds like a great school. I think it is cool that it is dry. If you drink, don't go there. (not you, but in general). I would like to hear from someone also on this! :) Good luck to you!</p>
<p>Fact: You cannot conclude that there is no drinking going on there. It's there. </p>
<p>Community, I believe, is very strong there. Quaker influence is pervasive and it greatly influences the nature of the community. Quakers are by nature supposed to be tolerant and seek truth wherever it leads. Visit and seek information about the school and the feel of the place will become evident. You will come to know if it's a match the way you really want to study.</p>
<p>My D is a sophomore at Earlham, and she loves it. I can't put my finger on what makes the community so strong, but what my D likes about it is that it's very diverse for its size. It's not just racial and economic diversity, but as she says, "There's someone for everyone" meaning that there are kids of all kinds. It took her a while to find the people who have become her close friends, but now she has a great group and she says she still meets new people all the time. Students run a lot of the activities and participate in committees dealing with college governance. And the Quaker ideals mean that they at least make an attempt at consensus and equality.</p>
<p>There definitely is drinking at Earlham. It's an issue that the college continues to struggle with. It's impossible to prevent drinking on campus, but they cannot change the dry campus policy due to the connection with the Quaker church. My impression is that in reality students drink if they want to but it's not a huge part of the culture. Campus security does break up parties, so gatherings that involve alcohol probably tend to be fairly quiet and not large (i.e., no frat-like parties). My D is not a big drinker but she wishes they could eliminate the dry campus policy because of the inherent conflict that it creates between policy and reality.</p>