Diversity at Alabama?

<p>kd - stop embarrassing yourself.</p>

<p>I only know of one person that is unhappy at UA and is supposed to be transferring next semester. As for my feelings on this person, good riddance! She came to UA looking for trouble, her own words (it is all over her twitter account). She has gone off on many people in public for no reason, including my daughter. Her attitude is beyond pathetic!</p>

<p>*Quote:
I have actually spoken to more people that are unhappy here than happy.
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<p>lol…right. I’ve seen the kids on campus on a near weekly basis. If they’re unhappy, someone needs to tell them to stop smiling so much.</p>

<p>KD…you’re stepping on your own point. You first claim that all these kids are into Greek life and football. Now, you’re claiming that so many are unhappy. </p>

<p>Hope you’re not planning on a career where making effective points is necessary.</p>

<p>KD: Am I correct in assuming that YOU are unhappy and that you want to transfer? Look, it happens, one university can NOT make everybody happy and obviously you are that one. Perhaps the fault lies not in the university…</p>

<p>Listen, it is okay to not have made the right choice for yourself…I really hope that wherever you go next, you arrive there with an open mind and a changed attitude. The world is a big place with many different people representing various cultural, religious, regional, lifestyle, and political positions. If you can’t get along and appreciate people for who they are, you will always feel like you don’t fit. Now I am not saying that you need to conform to anyone else’s viewpoint, I am saying that you need to accept their viewpoints as valid. If you are secure in who you are, that should be easy.</p>

<p>If you do not like the Greeks (you say you are one) what is the problem…Leave the group that you are associated with. No one has to remain Greek. Or Are the 70% Non-Greeks a threat because they don’t conform to the Greek traditions? Which is it?</p>

<p>I do wish you luck in the future but I also do think that you will need to change in order to feel lucky.</p>

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<p>Everywhere? That would mean they’re hanging out with all the non-Greeks who are having a good time. </p>

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<p>You’d have to be a moron to think that 80% of Bama’s students are in Greek life when the actual figure is 35% and PUBLISHED. </p>

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<p>So there’s lots of racial diversity but you know that these diverse individuals and the decisions they make are somehow all the same because that’s how it seems to you. Time to take a course in logic.</p>

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<p>UA’s now in the breeding business? Maybe you’re matriculating at a stud farm, but my kid’s attending a great university where he’s getting a fabulous education. And if UA were breeding different types of people that would make it…diverse. </p>

<p>Logic: it’s a southern thing.</p>

<p>malanai: :)</p>

<p>Maybe it’s better to just acknowledge that every school is going to have its fair share of unhappy/disgruntled students and leave it at that? I don’t care where you’re from, parents ganging up on a student is kind of offensive. He’s entitled to his opinion.</p>

<p>Of course there will always be unhappy kids at all schools. Sometimes the school isn’t a good fit, sometimes the student is homesick, sometimes the student is going thru some personal issues.</p>

<p>However, when a student essentially attacks a school (which is beyond just expressing an opinion), and has only been with the school for a few months, and is bringing forth criticisms that aren’t true or exist on every campus, then those statements are going to get challenged. </p>

<p>A fall frosh who went thru rush is going to have a very limited perspective. Interaction will be largely with her sorority house and maybe a few in dorms/classes. Perspective won’t be from the school at large, even tho that’s what she’s purporting. </p>

<p>When others come to this forum and read outrageous claims that go unchallenged, that hurts the school. Outrageous claims will get challenged.</p>

<p>About 4 years ago, a fall frosh came on this forum and posted similar complaints. He transferred to the school that he was “excited to attend” and would be “so much better.” Within one month at his “new school” he was posting that he hated his new school and would be transferring again. Why? Because his complaints were about things that are common to college life. His expectations were unreasonable. Not saying that’s the case with this girl.</p>

<p>KD, I appreciate your attempt at sharing your honest and first hand experience at UA. Im sorry it has been a disappointment to you. Maybe you should consider leaving the Greek System. It could be that it’s providing you a “narrower” experience than what UA has to offer as a whole. Once out of the Greek bubble, you may encounter a more diverse student body that shares some of your views on things? Maybe try that before outright transferring to a new school. Good luck.</p>

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<p>There’s a difference between challenging an “outrageous claim” and implying that the poster is stupid and ridiculing her.</p>

<p>My son’s experience at Bama could not be any more different from KD’s. Although born in the south, he was raised mostly in Europe, attending an Int’l school…so he’s used to a very diverse school body. We returned to the US for his high school years, north of Chicago, where there is almost no diversity, but a great high school. From the moment we set foot on campus, especially at Bama bound, my son has commented on how much more it feels like his int’l school than his high school. His comment, “it’s the most integrated setting he’s been in since leaving Europe”.</p>

<p>For what it’s worth, he is also greek. That said, that is not his whole life. He has friends in the dorm, through his Engineering mentoring group, from working out etc. And they are far all blond, southern & greek. He’s getting a great education and having the time of his life, thoroughly enjoying all that Bama has to offer!</p>

<p>Like so many things in life, sometimes you find what you go looking for. There’s a big world out there at Bama, sounds like KD may have chosen to put too many eggs into her sororiety basket, not taken the time to invest into other parts of the school.</p>

<p>Lucie: I for one don’t feel as if I have offended the original poster, I feel that I challenged her ideas and offered her perspective on her position. I also suggested that she consider leaving the Greek System as that may be skewing her opinions. If you are going to post negatively on an open forum that is about UA, you must realize that there will be different opinions than your own. She was after all looking for diversity. I recognize her desire to be heard but I just don’t concur with her opinion.</p>

<p><a href=“Announcements for 7/22/2010 - The Crimson White”>Announcements for 7/22/2010 - The Crimson White;

<p>For what it’s worth to another person of color. Black is the only prominent non-white presence on this campus, even then us blacks still gots a ways to go on this campus. Otherwise Reverand Jesse Jackson would not have been down here 2 months ago(he was also ready to bring Al Sharpton and Louis Farrakhan if it was necessary.) If you’re wary of attending UA because your not black or white then you are by all means justified in that feeling.</p>

<p>robot, I was actually referring to some of the comments made by parents to poster KD13333, who was, to my knowledge, one of the few actual UA students to have responded to the OP’s question at that point. In my opinion, some of these responses from parents are pretty mean-spirited. Even if KD’s accusations are misguided–and I suspect they are–one can disagree with someone without resorting to ridicule (not your post, but some of the others).</p>

<p>Otherwise Reverand Jesse Jackson would not have been down here 2 months ago(he was also ready to bring Al Sharpton and Louis Farrakhan if it was necessary.)</p>

<p>oh brother. If it was “necessary” for what? </p>

<p>Both the Black Houses and White Houses weren’t integrating. Now, they will be. Dr. Bonner handled the situation with grace and strength.</p>

<p>Necassary for what? C’mon now don’t play this game. Sharpton, Jackson, and Farrakhan saw Alabama in its darkest days with their own two eyes. People of color would not be able to attend this campus in the first place if those three men did not play the pivotal part that they played back then. They saw the state of Alabama back to its old tricks again, so of course they got to look out for the young adults that they PAVED THE WAY for in the first place. </p>

<p>And the black houses had NOTHING to do with the segregation issue. Black houses had white members in it. The white houses never ever did. That’s what the whole media storm was over it anyway. How many times the apologist are going to try to use this tired arguement?</p>

<p>I mean c’mon I ain’t about to trick someone into thinking UA into some place it’s not. As evidenced by that crimson white article I posted earlier some Hispanics and Asians do not feel Alabama is a melting pot. If OP wants to go to school in the southeast Georgia will be your best bet. <a href=“http://www.city-data.com/forum/atlanta/1336047-atlanta-identified-center-asian-american-culture.html[/url]”>http://www.city-data.com/forum/atlanta/1336047-atlanta-identified-center-asian-american-culture.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>These are the words of the Japanese-American student I mentioned earlier in this thread (I’ve posted her words before, with her permission, but they bear repeating):</p>

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<p>Does this obviate the unpleasant reality for those who’ve experienced discrimination or other dissatisfaction at UA (or any other university)? Of course not. </p>

<p>But it begs the question: If UA is unwelcoming to minorities, how did this young woman (who looks very “foreign,” is not southern, and hails from the most racially diverse state in the country) manage to find it “not difficult at all to fit in socially” and experience Bama as a place where “people don’t treat me differently or stereotype me at all?”</p>

<p>Think it is worth pointing out that OP has a grand total of 1 post on CC. He/she has apparently not been back to view the input he/she was looking for. Or maybe just reading and not commenting.</p>

<p>I think that the original poster and KD are the ones stereotyping. I wonder if they have ever been to large cities such as San Fran or NY or even watched TV documentaries. What would they think about the “China Towns”, “Korea Towns” , the “Little Italy” or the “Little India” sections of these cities? Would they feel that these cities are prejudiced and segregated as a whole or would they realize that entire groups of people enjoy celebrating their own heritage, enjoy shopping in stores dedicated to their unique foods and clothing, like mingling with people from their native countries, enjoy speaking their homeland languages, and want their children exposed to all of these options while living here in America.</p>

<p>In addition, I have visited over twenty college campuses and have observed exactly the same thing. Many students of various heritages do tend to group together for just the reasons cited above. This does not mean that they do not interface with other students of different groups but that it is not unusual to see Japanese students with Japanese students, Korean students with Korean students, Muslim students in tradional attire with other students dressed in a similar fashion. If you listen to those posters, they are lumping ALL Asians into just one group. For all they know, there are Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and other students all walking on campus together. They seem to just not know what they are talking and complaining about.</p>

<p>In my opinion these are young people who need to grow up, mature, and explore the world to learn more about people and their various cultures. What about those who have mixed heritages, where would they fit in according to these posters?</p>

<p>People of color would not be able to attend this campus in the first place if those three men did not play the pivotal part that they played back then</p>

<p>oh really? What pivotal part did those 3 men play to break the segregation doors and allow Blacks to enroll?</p>

<p>The Stand in the Schoolhouse door was in 1963. Al Sharpton was 9 years old at the time. Jesse Jackson came to Selma a few years after. I haven’t seen where Louis F did anything prior to 63 in Alabama.</p>