I love Barnard for many reasons, but something that concerns me is the lack of diversity there. It is 60% white compared to 39% white at Columbia. From a statistical standpoint, here are fewer international students, SO few black students… and when I look at pictures of the students the overwhelming majority is white girls. I don’t have a problem with white people (obviously) but I come from a very multicultural background and diversity is crucial to my college selection. I understand that Barnard is part of Columbia University in NYC, two extremely diverse environments, but at the end of the day I’ll be spending most of my time at Barnard. Do any current or former students (any latino or black girls???) have opinions on this? On a slight tangent, is there a weighted spoilt white girls “feel” at Barnard? This is something I’ve heard about on some forums. I’m an international student so I won’t get the chance to visit the campus myself (I would if I could though.)
2016gurl: Wow. Where to start…Barnard has many unique aspects that would draw a bright, disciplined young woman to its campus and community, to be sure. I am a parent of a fellow applicant in the year you are applying, so I will speak to you from that perspective, and not as someone who can speak to a student experience.
Focusing on diversity, and the feel one may find: Remember that diversity takes many forms,and even people whose skin color may evoke thoughts of home and family may move through life with values, character traits and cultural beliefs that are alien to your own. Consider that the students (and people) one may meet in New York City will have walked widely varying paths to get to the same place, and each person will enter the room with that distinct experience, from that particular vantage point.
The students you may assume will embrace and gravitate toward you may be the very ones with whom you find you have nothing in common, and over time, in a place where growth is the order of the day (college), you may find yourself embracing new and different experiences, practices, thoughts and ideas.
Years ago, almost 30 to be precise, Maya Angelou visited my college and spoke, and graciously received students and guests in a greeting line to exchange a few kind words. A woman just ahead of my friend’s group sought to make a connection with Ms. Angelou and recounted a tale of some domestic who had worked for the woman’s family and the woman’s memory of the domestic worker. Unfortunately, that desperate reach across a lifetime of separateness hit everyone in the room, especially Ms. Angelou, like a smack in the face, and Ms. Angelou ended the evening abruptly, greeting no one else. The woman had, in the words of Jane LaZarre, words I have since learned to use to frame that moment, “become White,” right in front of Ms. Angelou.
You will find that people who want to get to know the next person will do so, and those who reach for nothing beyond that which they have seen and known as the path forward in life, will never stray away from whatever is normative for them socially - and never get to know you.
You can make the same choices, the same small moves, walk the same familiar-to-you path through life, if those are the limits to which you choose to stretch. Or you can look at your walk into university life as a game of Twister, and bend and reach until you lose your breath laughing, falling down. Trust me, others will join you in this pursuit, if you just trust that you will not be the only one.
Sheesh! If it bothers u, then don’t apply. It isn’t as if there aren’t hundreds of other attractive schools.
I don’t think OP’s concerns are off-base. It can be incredibly isolating for women of color at elite college campuses. Sure, admissions can recruit them, but once they arrive on campus, will they find the support and communities they need to thrive? That’s why women’s colleges and historically black colleges remain vital. I’m not a woman of color nor do I attend Barnard, but I hope someone who meets those criteria will respond or PM OP.
If u haven’t visited it, then how can u know u love it?
Then pick an elite school with a higher percentage of people of color.
If you look at the Common Data Set data on Barnard, it’s about 55% white. Comparatively, Smith & Mount Holyoke are 46%, Wellesley is 40%, and Bryn Mawr is 36%.
My children’s HS was about 50% white. My S’s college is 63.5% white, which to him seems like a lot, however, for several of his classmates, it’s the most diverse environment they’ve ever been in.
60% white – that’s less than the proportion of non-Hispanic white people in the general population (63.7%). Barnard is thus more diverse than the United States, based on the percentage of Caucasians. (It’s all a matter of perspective)
If it is diversity that you are after, there are platforms like diversityabroad.com who obviously specializes on that. try checking them out. Sorry to be so abrupt. I’m new here obviously. But have been reading about them in other forums that I participate in. Diversity is their main objective.
Ugh, SO MUCH obnoxiousness in these responses. Not that you need validation, but your concerns are valid as hell. I’ve only toured, and while Barnard is a bit more homogenous than Columbia, you’ll be taking classes at both and will be able to join either school’s incredibly strong organizations for students of color. As far as spoiled white girls, I don’t really get that vibe (then again, I’ve only visited friends at the school and gone on tours, so this is certainly not a fully developed view). I know it’s not much, but I hope this helps. I’m a wannabe Barnard Bear myself (and an East Coast white girl to boot, so I really can’t give you a POC’s perspective or truly evaluate what it feels like as a POC at the school), and hope that everyone that has the drive to apply will, and that the school will suit their needs. I would do some browsing on Tumblr, because I’m pretty darn sure that there is a Barnard blog published by a WOC at Barnard, but I can’t remember the URL for the life of me. Also, I would contact the student union and see if you can get in touch with a WOC who attends the school (or even just troll Facebook and send a blind message). Best of luck with your college process (and plz ignore my horrible username fashioned in 8th grade)!