<p>Went to school today and was given a letter from Bowdoin coach wanting to recruit me for track and field. I have not heard much from this school but i know it has great programs. My main concern is that i am an African American male from north Carolina, and don’t want to feel alienated at the school. So what have you heard of Bowdoin(both the school and its student body)</p>
<p>Of the school, I’ve heard amazing things, both of the campus, academics, and athletics. If you search through the Bowdoin Orient website, there was an issue with a hate crime, but by the sounds of the article, it affected the school so deeply that a large amount of the school is devoting itself to bridging divides the incident caused.</p>
<p>Initial article: [“A</a> community reacts in the aftermath of the March 1 Coles Tower bias incident”](<a href=“http://orient.bowdoin.edu/orient/article.php?date=2011-04-01§ion=1&id=8]"A”>http://orient.bowdoin.edu/orient/article.php?date=2011-04-01§ion=1&id=8)
Later efforts: [“I</a> Am Bowdoin continues fight against bias in the community”](<a href=“http://orient.bowdoin.edu/orient/article.php?date=2011-05-06§ion=1&id=1]"I”>http://orient.bowdoin.edu/orient/article.php?date=2011-05-06§ion=1&id=1)</p>
<p>But really, that’s the only negative thing I’ve heard of regarding race relations at Bowdoin. In reviews around the internet, I’ve read that it’s a very diverse a welcoming place. As an outsider, I’m just assuming that the incident was very isolated, but the reaction showed how committed the community is to tolerance and togetherness.</p>
<p>I’ve been recruited for track too. It’s awesome and really diverse. You won’t have any problem being an African American student, or with being from California.</p>
<p>^ He said “North Carolina,” not California.</p>
<p>In truth, for an elite school, Bowdoin is relatively white because it’s an LAC in far-north New England. I agree that you probably would not encounter much discrimination, though.</p>
<p>Actually, Bowdoin is quite diverse, especially considering its location in northern New England. URMs make up about 32% of the student population . .</p>
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<p>Not exactly correct. True, Bowdoin is quite diverse overall, but Asians do not count as “URMs.” Only blacks and Hispanics. Asians make up the largest group of racial minorities at Bowdoin. An environment that is hospitable to Asians, who are not considered “URMs”, does not necessarily extend to African Americans, who are considered URMs. They can have very different experiences at the same school.</p>
<p>The links posted by angeBunny provide a more accurate picture of the climate for African Americans, specifically, IMHO. There is also a Bowdoin video somewhere featuring several black Bowdoin students. It was fairly gut-wrenching. Unfortunately.</p>
<p>I’m just saying.</p>
<p>Well, Bowdoin is 5% black, which seems low, but most Ivies are at around 7%. The difference in colored students at a northern LAC compared to a more mainstream research university could mostly be attributed to the differing percentage of Asians rather than URMs. That said, 5% of Bowdoin is like 90 students.</p>
<p>You’re overlooking the multi-racials, which are larger in number than AAs at Bowdoin and likely include a fair number who would have previously classified as AA . .</p>
<p>They probably have an african american student’s group, or something like that, which you can consult with about this issue. Or ask to talk to some kids already on the team.</p>
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<p>These things can be looked up so there’s no reason to invent imaginary URM data for Bowdoin. Hispanics outnumber Asians by about 65 percent at Bowdoin according to the latest common data set so Asians are not the “largest group of racial minorities” at Bowdoin.</p>
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<p>I DID look it up. College data.com. Asians are the largest group, and they don’t report multi-racials. AAs make up almost 7%. It’s a diverse group, but no way Hispanics outnumber Asians by 65%. In fact, Asians outnumber Hispanics:</p>
<p>[Bowdoin</a> College Students - CollegeData College Profile](<a href=“http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg06_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=138]Bowdoin”>http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg06_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=138)</p>
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<p>Great suggestion. The OP absolutely should do this.</p>
<p>I’ll say this for Bowdoin. It’s much more diverse than the other Maine LACs, Colby and Bates. So, if the OP is willing to move from a very diverse state (North Carolina) to one of the least diverse states in America (Maine), he can be comforted by the knowledge that Bowdoin is the most diverse school in the state.</p>
<p>One more thing. Maine is whiter than rice and both U.S. senators are Republicans, but the state went for Obama in the last presidential election. That says something very positive, IMHO, about a significant number of Maine residents.</p>
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<p>You can keep on looking up the data on a website that reports data that is either out-of-date or incorrect or you can look at the common data set on Bowdoin’s website where you will discover that the current breakdown is as follows:</p>
<p>Hispanics: 211 (12%)
AAs or blacks: 89 (5%)
Native Americans: 2 (1%)
Asians: 128 (8%)
Multiracial: 108 (6%)</p>
<p>It is possible/likely that some students that were previously classified as AA or Asian have been moved to the multi-racial category. Nonetheless, the facts are that Hispanics are the largest and the most rapidly growing group of URMs on the Bowdoin campus. In fact, Hispanics outnumbered Asians by 65 to 34 in last year’s first-year class, which is actually a 91% differential as opposed to the overall differential across four classes of 65%.</p>
<p>It’s good that Bowdoin has a multi-racial category. Most colleges do not. The surge in Hispanic students and the addition of a multi-racial category is a fairly recent occurence. I see that it is in the 2010-2011 Data. As recently as 2009-2010, the stats on race groups was pretty much what I listed. It appears that with the addition of the multi-racial category, the number of Asians and blacks has declined while the number of Hispanics/Latinos has climbed. Without seeing the breakdown of multi-racials, it’s hard to say which non-white/Hispanic group is largest. It does make me wonder about the whole multi-racial category, because most Caribbean-origin Hispanics, which is most Hispanics on the east coast, are in fact racially mixed themselves, but they don’t identify as multi-racial. Interesting.</p>
<p>Well i looked into it, contacted several students there(my cousin has a few friends that attend that school), i dont think i will be continuing the process with this school. I dont think i could handle the change and have not heard anything good about diversity from the students. Thanks to those who responded though</p>
<p>I would recommend looking further into it. Bowdoin is a phenomenal school no matter who you are. You wouldn’t want to pass up an opportunity such as the advantage of being an athletic recruit.</p>
<p>I’d like to know where else the OP is being recruited? Any decent DIII school with a lacross team is going to have a similar climate for African-Americans, if not worse. :/</p>
<p>laxxxbro, judging by yr username, r u sure you’re a track & field athlete? ;-)</p>
<p>I dropped my son off at the school this week & was surprised at the diversity
of the incoming class…not just vanilla ice cream here. I met several international parents along with some lovely Spanish folks from Florida. </p>
<p>BTW, my son plays lacrosse, so your handle made me laugh.</p>
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<p>D’oh. I have to LOL at my own post. 
The OP’s dilemma makes much more sense now. I know it’s a stereotype, but, somehow I couldn’t imagine a predominantly African-American lacross team, even in North Carolina. Track and field on the other hand…</p>