<p>Can anyone comment on racial and ethnic diversity at BC. On our tour we asked the question and were told about “diversity of thought” rather than the diversity within the community. Thanks.</p>
<p>Can anyone please comment. There have been over 40 views, any insights?</p>
<p>ALL colleges, BC included, want greater diversity…</p>
<p>Yes, I agree and several are achieving this. One ranking source (col. prow.) gives BC a C- in diversity. This grade is not uncommon for the smaller NESCAC schools, but I am not sure I understand why BC is ranked this low given its location, size and philosophy. Can anyone speak to the diversity, general environment at BC. The school is very appealing given its size, location, philosophy, and sports teams – however the lack of diversity will be a concern, if that is the case. Thanks for all input!</p>
<p>Dear peacefulmom : Your question covering “Boston College Diversity” appears every several months or so here on the message board. Right now, all of those threads appear to have rolled off the message board - hence, the chance to start the discussions anew.</p>
<p>As a starting point on diversity discussions at Boston College, it is probably most appropriate to point you to BC’s own web site and the information which is shared there:</p>
<p>[Diversity</a> - Boston College](<a href=“http://www.bc.edu/schools/cas/diversity.html]Diversity”>Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences | Boston College)</p>
<p>In particular, AHANA has been extremely successful in providing an environment to greatly decrease the attrition rates among some student sectors during the last twenty years. One such article covering the success of the BC diversity efforts is covered at:</p>
<p>[Diversity</a> Innovations | Student Involvement and Development | Recruitment, Retention, and Mentoring | Retaining Students of Color: The Office of AHANA Student Programs at Boston College](<a href=“http://www.diversityweb.org/diversity_innovations/student_development/recruitment_retention_mentoring/retaining_students.cfm]Diversity”>diversityweb.org)</p>
<p>Now, let’s move beyond the public facing websites and to the grading of a campus on diversity. Any university which is part of the Jesuit/Catholic tradition will tend to be less less diverse than other campuses, as some quality students will naturally shy away from that environment. However we need to temper that view as BC does not solely practice the Christian tradition. Theology courses, part of the core, cover a wide range of beliefs and traditions.</p>
<p>The first-year student body composition is described with the following:</p>
<p>26% In-state students, 74% Out-of-state students
52% Women, 48% Men </p>
<p><1% American Indian/Alaskan Native
10% Asian/Pacific Islander
6% Black/Non-Hispanic
7% Hispanic
66% White/Non-Hispanic
5% Non-Resident Alien
7% Race/ethnicity unreported </p>
<p>80% in top 10th of graduating class
96% in top quarter of graduating class
99% in top half of graduating class</p>
<p>In terms of racial mix, if 2/3rds white/non-hispanic is not your cup of tea, that is fine, but overall that is fairly close to the campus profile at this time. Interestingly, NYU which is a cohort school on the business side and arts/sciences side of Boston College typically scores well in diversity with just shy of 1/2 the student body as white/non-hispanic. Go figure.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, peacefulmom, what critieria would you like to apply to measure diversity? Diversity of thought, a particularly Jesuit view, is actually very important and you will find that the level of tolerance for alternative thought it quite high. Hope that this helps answer your question.</p>
<p>Scottj-- Thank you for the links and for this information. I will now try to do some of my own analysis based upon these stats and not rely on a reporting service. I am not sure how I feel about the diversity of thought line of reasoning. While this may indicate that people are open-minded, I am not sure that one can really achieve diversity of thought without real diversity in the population. I am very interested in BC for many reasons, and will delve deeper into this analysis. Thanks again for your very helpful input!</p>
<p>Visit, do an overnight. Use their goal of increasing diversity to your advantage!</p>
<p>Unfortunately we would not add to the diversity – however, it is something that we are seeking. I am surprised that there haven’t been more responses from BC students and family members – any thoughts?</p>
<p>I am going to Boston College next year, and I have visited the campus many times:</p>
<ol>
<li>Yes, Caucasians are the majority. Like at many colleges.</li>
<li>I do see a fair number of racial minorities on campus.</li>
<li>Personally, I do not feel uncomfortable at all attending a university where Caucasians are the majority. (I am Asian, personally.) </li>
</ol>
<p>I wonder why people make such a big deal about racial diversity. I rather see a diversity in thought instead. Diversity doesn’t mean anything if we have both a white and a black person thinking completely alike.</p>
<p>Diversity is a big deal because your exposed to different cultures and backgrounds and ultimatley broadens your perspective on life. This was one of the reasons why i did not attend as a transfer student and plus i ultamatley decided engineering is my passion (i am asian also).</p>
<p>I don’t think the “philosophy of diversity” discussion will get a lot of response here as the topic has a limited population of interest in this forum. The population of current students that visit here is not that large, and those that do are typically more interested in sciences, business, sports, college life, perhaps education where diversity “philosophy” is not high in importance (tolerance is certainly important). </p>
<p>As mentioned above, the topic does come up here often in terms of individuals wanting to know if they would fit in, not so much about its contribution to the liberal arts education. Not to dismiss this important topic, BC does accept/encourages diversity as well as any school, but I wouldn’t consider it’s class a significantly diverse population. Is it diverse enough for you to be satisfied? Perhaps, as there are certainly students coming from a wide variety of cultures and home towns, perhaps not. That’s your judgment call. </p>
<p>Each BC school has a different diversity density.</p>
<p>I am an african american and I will be an entering freshman at Boston College this fall. From the looks of my visit, BC’s diversity might be unnoticed at first, but the AHANA organization is a very knit community where they’re many students of different cultures, races and backgrounds. Personally, I enjoyed Boston College and I’m so happy to go there!</p>
<p>Oh and just to add, even though there is not that much diversity in BC there are many neighboring colleges nearby that after attending local events and parties, its not that hard to meet different people.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your thoughtful replies.</p>
<p>I was on campus for the SUPERB orientation program for the past 3 days. I agree with ncstudent09 @ #12 above – the AHANA (“African, Hispanic, Asian, Native American”) organization and support on campus appears to be very strong. There were definitely a good number of what CC would refer to as URMs in the group. I think the only ethnic percentage that struck me was was the comparatively-low percentage of Asian students compared to most of the other top-level colleges I have visited. Numbers/percentages of black/hispanic students seemed comparable to many of the other schools, but the lower asian perentages may contribute to the overall perception that BC is more homogenous – at least on the basis of “scanning the room” full of 400 students.</p>
<p>By the way, it was mentioned that BC refuses to use the word “minority”, since they feel that it imparts a predetermined status. Hence the moniker “AHANA” which was created by a group fo students some years ago (in the 70’s, I think I heard).</p>
<p>Editorial diversion: BC Orientation Sun-Tue this week was the high point of the past 2 years of my life – no lie. It was awesome.</p>
<p>Dear TheDukeofEarl : Per your comment - “Editorial diversion: BC Orientation Sun-Tue this week was the high point of the past 2 years of my life – no lie. It was awesome.”</p>
<p>Our family was part of an orientation two years back for our oldest and will be doing it again in July for our second. For those parents reading the board, your sessions are equally as important as those attended by your students. You will have your entire perspective on college life challenged and rechallenged during orientation.</p>
<p>That’s great that you had such a good time! Could you offer some insight as to what you did during the sessions and what you liked about it?</p>
<p>^ No, sorry bceaglefan. I won’t. Honestly, it would reduce the effectiveness – it would be like me giving you the punchline of a joke and then trying to tell you the whole joke later on. Suffice it to say that it was very effective, very well organized, designed to really get your blood flowing maroon and gold… without having to do any heavy lifting I was able to befriend (not meet, but befriend) a whole bunch of different people who I now know well enough to hang with if I want to when I get on-campus. The whole thing is designed to launch you into BC with speed and grace. </p>
<p>And I agree with scottj – my folks both came (it is a 3-day orientation – one track for parents, one for the students – we didn’t cross paths even once during the time) – and they both came away knowing every single thing they needed to about BC in order to know I will have a good experience, and they are part of the BC family. And my Dad is still talking about the food.</p>
<p>I realize that white/non-white isn’t the only way to measure diversity, but it is one of the few areas we have reliable statistics for. According to a 2008 U.S. Census Press Release ([US</a> Census Press Releases](<a href=“http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/011910.html]US”>http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/011910.html)), the U.S. population is 66% White-Caucasian/34% Non-White, which is exactly the same profile as BC. So, while the mix of ethnic groups may be different at BC, the overall breakdown of white/non-white is reflective of the general population.</p>
<p>The discussion of diversity at BC is a persistent one, (much like partying at University of Miami and crime at Southern Cal.). A little research at [College</a> Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics](<a href=“http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/]College”>College Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics) turned up some interesting, to me, stats:</p>
<p>White/Caucasian Enrollment % + Asian % =</p>
<p>BC 66% + 10% = 76%
Georgetown 64% + 9% = 73%
Univ. Virginia 63% + 11% = 74%
Northwestern 57% + 16% = 73%
UTexas-Austin 56% + 17% = 73%
Wash U St. Louis 61% + 12% = 73%
Southern Cal. 47% + 22% = 69%
Emory 53% + 18% = 71%
Notre Dame 76% + 7 % = 83%
UAlabama 84% + 1 = 85%
UGeorgia 82% + 6% = 88%</p>
<p>With the exception of Alabama, Georgia and (again surprisingly to me), Notre Dame, the Caucasian numbers are fairly consistent. Adding in Asian students results in an image of amazing homogeneity. Given a group picture of 100 students from each of these schools, you’d be hard pressed to match students to university. Yet when visiting other school’s discussions boards I rarely see the question of diversity brought up for these schools. How is it that BC has gained this reputation for being less diverse?</p>
<p>Diversity seems to be much desired but very difficult to attain.</p>
<p>^^the numbers for Emory maybe incorrect. According to it’s own website, Emory is 31% Asian, 45% Caucasian.</p>