Any minorities out there?! (Ethnic Diversity Q.)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Colgate University
21

<p>What you all are saying… false, false, false, false.</p>

<p>Colgate is very different from the typical LAC stereotype. I’ve noticed, as a white Jewish gal, the increase in diversity in my three years at Colgate. I was actually quite impressed. My friend who was Chinese was actually happy at Colgate. Sometimes she did feel a little left out but it didn’t stop her from finding opportunities and having an amazing time. I think she did much more at Colgate than had she gone to her other choice, another LAC. Colgate breeds passion and if you’re passionate about something, you’re going to get that. You’ll find that students are actually quite interested in learning about other cultures and ethnic groups and going beyond the usual LAC stereotype.</p>

<p>Also, Colgate is a community and everyone watches out for each other regardless of their backgrounds.</p>

22

<p>My daughter is a first-year student at Colgate. She is mixed, half Japanese (Mom) and half white (me). She speaks decent Japanese (and loves Japanese food, etc.!!) so she’s also culturally knowledgeable. She’s from Los Angeles where ethnic diversity is the norm. My own neighborhood in LA has about 20% blacks, 20% Asians, 60% others (gay, Jewish, lesbian, Armenian, Swedish . . . ). There’s no way a small liberal arts college anywhere else is going to have California-style diversity like that! If you must have that sort of mixture, you’d better look at colleges in California or Hawaii only. </p>

<p>But college is not supposed to recreate the kind of world you are comfortable in. It’s supposed to be different, challenging, mind-opening. </p>

<p>Nearly all colleges not in urban areas (or on the west coast), have this same concern – how to enroll a more diverse student body. Colgate is by no means unique in this concern. If you look at similar small liberal arts colleges in the East or Northeast (Bowdoin, Trinity, Hamilton, Skidmore, Williams, etc.) you will find the same situation. Colgate has made great efforts in this regard and great progress over the last few decades in moving from a fairly preppy white kids school to a much more diverse student body – as have dozens of similar colleges. </p>

<p>If you base your feelings on a single campus visit during which you saw mostly white preppy kids, that’s not the best research. Colgate is no doubt fairly white and preppy, as similar schools are, but it has significant diversity, as well, and that needs to be noted. </p>

<p>If you want to attend a college with large numbers of Hispanics, Blacks, or Asians, I’m afraid schools like Amherst, Colby, Williams, or Colgate aren’t going to match up very well.
But these schools also have significant numbers of minorities. Statistics I’ve seen for Colgate (not verified) are about 5% Black, 5% Hispanic, not sure about Asians but around 5% seems likely. Of 2800 students, those are not tiny numbers.</p>

<p>In last year’s admissions statistics, 22% multicultural students and 6% foreign students were admitted into the Class of 2013. Those are not small numbers. </p>

<p>The “Journal of Blacks in Higher Education” ranked Colgate 3rd in the nation in “success in integrating African Americans.” That’s right, third. Here’s the link:
[Ranking</a> America’s Leading Liberal Art Colleges](<a href=“http://www.jbhe.com/features/38_leading_colleges.html]Ranking”>http://www.jbhe.com/features/38_leading_colleges.html)</p>

23

<p>Colgate did a study last year that gauged the satisfaction level of various types of students at the school. I don’t think its fair to brush the concerns of these posters away as the study showed that those who enjoy their time at Colgate the most are the stereotypical Colgate student- White, wealthy, a little conservative, and in a greek organization.</p>

<p>Link from the school’s newspaper:
<a href=“http://www.maroon-news.com/2.5269/climate-survey-results-released-shed-light-on-student-experience-1.801367[/url]”>http://www.maroon-news.com/2.5269/climate-survey-results-released-shed-light-on-student-experience-1.801367&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;