<p>My D toured Vanderbilt last spring and was impressed. However, since the visit she has become increasing concerned about the social environment. She is not interested in the Greek system. She was told that groups of students don't mix very well. For example, Asians eat with Asians, African Americans hang with African Americans, and so on. This was not the case with some of the other schools she visited (Rice for example). She is a committed Christian who doesn't want the party scene. </p>
<p>What do you Vandy students think? Is this perception right? Will a girl like my D find a fulfilling social outlet at Vanderbilt?</p>
<p>This same topic have been discussed at length so much over the past few weeks, Im sure you can just search it and find some answers. As always, you will find ALL kinds of people on ALL campuses and that self-segregation is NOT unique to Vandy! </p>
<p>And, obviously, "the party scene" is found everywhere - your D will have to face that "temptation" most places.</p>
<p>I don't have any firsthand knowledge, but as a parent, I would be concerned about a university that is ranked by Pr!nceton Rev!ew as having a "major fraternity/sorority scene" (#11) and "little race/class interaction (#20).</p>
<p>So yes, people like your daughter and me still apply to Vanderbilt. Except I'm not religious. At all. But I'm still anti-drugs and alcohol (I think I made a comment about me being straight edge in another thread). And there are more ways to have fun than just partying. There are coffee shops (non-Starbucks) all around. There are also lots of small venues for live, local bands to play. There's Centennial Park... lotsa stuff to enjoy.</p>
<p>You can have her Facebook me as well. I'm also quite religious (although Jewish) and very straightlaced. I plan to pledge, but I want absolutely nothing to do with drugs/alcohol/smoking/random hookups. Most colleges have a place for people like us, just as there is a place for the partiers. Being in Tennessee, there will definitely be plenty of faith-oriented people for her to hang out with.</p>
<p>Vandy has quite a few Christian student orgs, including Campus Crusade for Christ, Commodores for Christ, Disciples First, and more. If she did decide to go Greek, one of the sororities (Chi Omega) apparently has a reputation as being a Christian sorority on campus with a lot of "good girls," which I generally take to mean that they're not the party type.</p>
<p>Almost any school is subject to natural segregation. That's just the way people are; birds of a feather... I'm sure she'll be fine.</p>
<p>I've had similar worries.
Honestly, I think it's making yourself social and approachable.
The whole "Alternative Lifestyle not an Alternative" scares me a bit. And every time I do something off beat my friends say something to the effect of "You can't do that at Vanderbilt!" </p>
<p>There will be bigots anywhere you go or 'uppity' individuals but considering there are quite a few people who are worried about "not fitting in" (which is completely antithetical to the concept of diversity), I'm pretty sure there's a community for everyone from every wake of life.</p>
<p>I don't know if the other posters on this thread are from or familiar with the culture of the South. When many people hear about progress in race relations, they think about a reduction in incidents of open hostility. But changing centuries of tradition that have created parallel but non-intersecting societies is much harder. Throughout the South there are two versions of most everything - black and white colleges, b&w churches, b&w versions of the same civic organizations, even different grocery stores that serve different customer bases. This isn't always an insidious thing - since the races developed separate cultural norms, their groups have developed to meet their differing interests and traditions. Sometimes it can be insidious - there are still HSs that have two Homecoming Queens, one white and one black. You'll find a good deal of interaction between individuals of all races and religions. It's in the aggregate that self-separation tends to be perpetuated, and it's changing very slowly. It's not a pheomenon unique to Vandy.</p>
<p>I know that Vanderbilt has a big fraternity/sorority scene--are the fraternities segregated by race, i.e., are certain fraternities/sororities predominantly one race?</p>
<p>Throughout the United States, there are Greek organizations that are predominantly white and Greek organizations that are predominantly black. Both have members of all races, but at a time in which membership in the former was closed to African-Americans, African-Americans set up fraternal organizations that reflected their own unique issues and needs. While over 90% of the college members of white Greek organizations will stop actively participating in their organization after they graduate from college, the historically Black Greek organizations provide an affiliation for a lifetime, and impact their members' lives in many different ways. One of the first things that their members will do when moving to a new community is to contact the alumni chapter of their organization, which will help them become grounded in the new setting. As older alumni, they'll be involved in outreach, support, and educational efforts with young African-American students. They want the coming generations to understand the history of their organization and especially the societal forces that led to its founding. These efforts are much greater than is predominantly white organizations which did not have to arise, in part, in response to a system of social injustice. Accordingly, the latter will tend to be college social clubs that perform community service on the side (though adult sorority women across the board generally do a better job of mentoring their collegiate members than do the fraternities). Black Greek organizations have traditions such as appearing in public in a "line," performing "step shows" (similar to a drill team) for one another, and using calls and responses to members that people affiliated with predominantly white groups typically can't decipher. You could certainly join any group, and I hope would be welcomed there, but if you join one in which you're the minority, you'd be entering a culture that's probably unknown to you, and participating in rituals that speak to a tradition that may not be the one that you know. That's why the groups continue to be predominantly one race or another, as do some colleges and churches.</p>
<p>Honestly, I believe you'll be fine. I crossed "lines" that are over dramatized when people talk about Vanderbilt. I'm black, have friends from many races, eat with whoever I want, and am currently pledging an IFC fraternity. </p>
<p>There are no "you must do this, you must be friends with him/her" rules. You make the decision for yourself. I know plenty of religious people who have become really involved in campus organizations that support that purpose. </p>
<p>I can't stress enough that its up to you to find what you want, as this university and its population doesn't exactly hold your hand.</p>
<p>Only rules on campus are those that are self imposed. There probably is a propensity for certain ethnic groups to hang out with one another, however it is by no means different than elsewhere. I'd say it is a normal setting. Vanderbilt makes a conscious effort to explore the diversity of all student groups on campus. For example: Diwali is celebrated by just about everyone here, likewise with the Asian New Year Festival (Saturday).</p>
<p>I would also not worry about a students ability to participate in religious affairs. Correct me if I'm wrong, Catholicism seems to be the most active christian religion that is practiced on campus.</p>
<p>Threads like this one are somewhat misleading to me. I've spoke on this several times in other threads. I am a current vanderbilt student, and I feel like some of the responses here are a little bit "what you want to hear." </p>
<p>YES, you can find other people who you can get along with at vandy if you aren't into the mainstream culture. HOWEVER, I have friends here who aren't the mainstream and I know sometimes they wish they had gone somewhere else where they didn't stick out so much. </p>
<p>Vanderbilt has a VERY DISTINCT culture, as I'm sure most other schools do. While your daughter could find friends here and be perfectly happy, she could be HAPPIER somewhere else. </p>
<p>I know people are going to tear me apart, saying I'm shallow and I'm being unfair blah blah, but take it for what it is.</p>
<p>There is a certain segment of the student population (i.e. Progressive and Liberal Whites/non-black minorities) which participate in these multicultural events with gusto, but I would hardly say that everyone celebrates it.</p>