<p>Is the diversity really that bad? Im a catholic african american female who is really interested in ND!</p>
<p>What do you mean by “bad diversity”? </p>
<p>Do you mean it isn’t diverse? If so, I’ll let you know that it is at least somewhat diverse. I’m not a student, but I’ve been close to ND my whole life, gone to numerous sporting events, a camp at ND, and so on. Obviously, Caucasians are the majority, but there is a fair share of African Americans, Asians, Hispanics, and everything else. Also, the admissions office states that about 80% (about 9,400 of 11,700) of the students are Catholic, but numerous other religions are present and all are welcome. Bottom line: ND isn’t the most diverse campus, but it surely isn’t the least.</p>
<p>@StrikeIt</p>
<p>Okay, thank you!</p>
<p>ND is NOT diverse, just letting you know in advance. The vast majority of people are white, followed by some east asians, some hispanics, and a few black people. There are basically no indian people. There certainly isn’t discrimination though.</p>
<p>Well, I guess it depends a little bit on your personal definition of diverse. Where I live, it’s about 98% Caucasian, so Notre Dame’s roughly 75% Caucasian student body seems more diverse to me. For comparative purposes, that number is nearly equal to the national percentage of whites (72%), the Aftican American population compared to the rest of the nation is a little low (4% at ND; 12% nation), but the Asian population is higher than the national percentage. That’s about all I’m gathering for the moment… Ha</p>
<p>from ND itself … [Student</a> Statistics - Office of Institutional Equity - University of Notre Dame](<a href=“http://equity.nd.edu/statistics/StudentStatistics.shtml]Student”>http://equity.nd.edu/statistics/StudentStatistics.shtml)</p>
<p>That’s 2004, I think I may have been going from the 2010 or 2009 statistics.</p>
<p>whoops … this is newer (but essentially the same) … <a href=“BigFuture College Search”>BigFuture College Search;
<p>There is also a crushing lack of economic diversity. Something like 30-35% of students come from households making over $300,000/yr, another 30-35% from households making over $150,000/yr, and only 4% from households in the bottom 25% of society.</p>
<p>As a result, it’s also majority conservative. Coupled with the strong Catholic identity, there isn’t a lot of ideological diversity.</p>
<p>Manorite - I don’t totally agree with your last sentence.</p>
<p>[Students</a> petition against religious liberty lawsuit - News - Notre Dame - The Observer - University of Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s College](<a href=“http://www.ndsmcobserver.com/news/students-petition-against-religious-liberty-lawsuit-1.2882943#.UCBOqU1mTiE]Students”>http://www.ndsmcobserver.com/news/students-petition-against-religious-liberty-lawsuit-1.2882943#.UCBOqU1mTiE)</p>
<p>[Vigil</a> responds to University - News - Notre Dame - The Observer - University of Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s College](<a href=“http://www.ndsmcobserver.com/news/vigil-responds-to-university-1.2862884#.UCBPQk1mTiE]Vigil”>http://www.ndsmcobserver.com/news/vigil-responds-to-university-1.2862884#.UCBPQk1mTiE)</p>
<p>[The</a> Shirt announces vendor - News - Notre Dame - The Observer - University of Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s College](<a href=“http://www.ndsmcobserver.com/news/the-shirt-announces-vendor-1.2746498#.UCBP5k1mTiE]The”>http://www.ndsmcobserver.com/news/the-shirt-announces-vendor-1.2746498#.UCBP5k1mTiE)</p>
<p>
As someone who has personally gotten into an argument with Father Jenkins over workers’ rights, written about the ridiculous lawsuit, and signed petitions in favor of the reversal of hateful policies, I agree with you that not everyone is ideologically identical at ND.</p>
<p>However, the ideological diversity at Notre Dame is not what it would be in the general population. It is majority conservative and overwhelmingly wealthy Catholic. There are, of course, issues that are exceptions, like gay rights, which is largely a generational gap. Hatred for gays definitely seems to be the minority opinion at ND, as shown by overwhelming student support for gay rights, even amongst otherwise conservative students. Similarly, the vast majority of the student body is pro-life.</p>
<p>Again, there is ideological diversity. But, as I initially said, not “a lot.” Meaning noticeably less than a random sample of the US would yield. However, if someone comes from a very ideologically whitewashed background where everyone in their community was of basically the same belief set, or even if they came from a very red or very blue state, ND might appear more diverse in this way, so I suppose it is a matter of perspective.</p>
<p>Awilo13 - try reaching out to some current African American and other minority students to get their perspective. There is also an admissions director who works on African American recruitment and he could help answer some of your questions. Good luck!</p>
<p>@NDgradNDmom</p>
<p>Alright! Thank you 
thats much help</p>
<p>As an earlier poster noted, Notre Dame students are about as ethnically diverse as the population in general, with Asians over-represented and blacks/Hispanics somewhat under-represented. As for ideological diversity, my guess is that student views are also fairly representative of the larger population, but with a greater balance between conservative and liberal voices than one would find at a comparably selective but secular school such as Northwestern or Duke. (Those schools are, of course, much less ideologically diverse than Notre Dame, but few diversity bean counters seem to care about anything other than skin color and, perhaps, household income). Way back in 2008, the student body was evenly split between Obama and McCain, which would not have been the result at any other top 25 school. Yes, the student body is overwhelmingly Catholic, but students here know that many of those Catholics are only nominally so, and, in any event, Catholics as a group poll pretty much the same as Americans in general.</p>
<p>
This isn’t exactly accurate. The only official stats I could find from ND itself are here: [Student</a> Statistics - Office of Institutional Equity - University of Notre Dame](<a href=“http://equity.nd.edu/statistics/StudentStatistics.shtml]Student”>http://equity.nd.edu/statistics/StudentStatistics.shtml). 2010 Census numbers are here: <a href=“http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-02.pdf[/url]”>http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-02.pdf</a>. This former cites a percentage of Whites at 78.19%. This might not seem so far from the initial 72.4% White you see on the Census, but that number counts Hispanics in with Whites, which Notre Dame does not. When you look at the non-Hispanic White figure (along with the figures for Hispanics, non-Hispanic Blacks, et cetera), you get this:</p>
<p>Non-Hispanic Whites: 63.7%
Non-Hispanic Blacks: 12.2%
Non-Hispanic Asians: 4.7%
Non-Hispanic Native American: 0.7%
Non-Hispanic Other/Mixed: 2.3%
Hispanic/Latino (All): 16.3%</p>
<p>Meanwhile, at Notre Dame (in 2004, at least… The University doesn’t publish up to date records, apparently), we have this:</p>
<p>Non-Hispanic Whites: 78.19%
Non-Hispanic Blacks: 3.70%
Non-Hispanic Asians: 5.38%
Non-Hispanic Native American: 0.68%
Non-Resident Aliens: 3.86%
Hispanic/Latino (All): 8.19%</p>
<p>That means…</p>
<p>Whites are represented at 122.75% the national average.</p>
<p>Asians are represented at 114.47%* the national average.</p>
<p>Native Americans are represented at 97.14% the national average.</p>
<p>Hispanic (of all races) are represented at 50.25%** the national average.</p>
<p>Blacks are represented at 30.33% the national average.</p>
<p>*These numbers do exclude the 3.86% Non-Resident Alien figure, which I suspect would skew the Asian rate higher</p>
<p>**This does not account for the estimated 10-12 million undocumented Hispanics in the US. If those were included in the figure of persons living in the US (as they are), then Notre Dame would have 42.04-43.17% Hispanic representation.</p>
<p>The low Black population may be do to religious appeal (or lack thereof), as only 4% of American Catholics are Black. However, 31% of (documented) American Catholics are Hispanic, compared to 8.19% of ND, so an economic or geographic explanation might be more likely there.</p>
<p>Now, I love Notre Dame. I don’t think anyone should cross it off their list for lack of diversity. People doing that will just keep perpetuating that lack. But I also don’t think a vague statement assuring people that 3/4-White Notre Dame is the same as a country with far more Hispanic and Black people is genuine.</p>
<p>
That’s pretty interesting … as always stats can often tell any story desired. I’ll buy that a near even split between Obama and McCain mimics the overall US vote pretty well. However, I would look at that stat very differently … among college students across the country Obama won an overwhelming percentage of the vote … if ND was close to 50/50 this indicates the student population is significantly more conservative than the overall college population. For any particular applicant this could be good, bad, or nor matter.</p>
<p>Exactly. Many times, prospective students will ask about “diversity” when they really want to know whether other students will share their political/social/religious views. Or look like them.</p>
<p>Most selective universities aren’t particularly representative of the population at large. Asians are over-represented, especially when international students are added to the mix, and blacks and Hispanics are generally under-represented. Very few students at any top university come from low-income families (Notre Dame is not unique in this regard), which is one of the reasons that Harvard and a few other schools are tuition free for such families. </p>
<p>Students seeking true diversity should probably consider a community college…</p>
<p>Diversity is an old, old wooden ship that was used during the Civil War era. As far as I know we don’t have it. </p>
<p>Goodluck regardless.</p>
<p>Manorite – Where did you get the data that supports this statement:</p>
<p>“There is also a crushing lack of economic diversity. Something like 30-35% of students come from households making over $300,000/yr, another 30-35% from households making over $150,000/yr, and only 4% from households in the bottom 25% of society.”</p>
<p>So you are saying that as many as 70% of the student’s at ND come from households in the 97th percentile (or above) for household income? If this were true I would be very surprised to find roughly half of all undergraduates receiving need-based financial aid (excluding Stafford loans).</p>
<p>Those seem pretty similar to the stats that the Office of Student Affairs presents in their in the two day coverage of diversity in Contemporary Topics classes.</p>