Hello!
So I got offered admission at VT and I received the big envelope but inside with the admission letter was two pamphlets on Diversity at VT. I am Hispanic and I did mark that on my application. These pamphlets worried me because they used the word underrepresented a lot and they offered a “special” tour for us with a black man as our tour guide. My questions are these: Truthfully how open is VTech to diversity? As not only a Hispanic man but also a gay man, should I be worried if I go there? How is the surrounding town as well when it comes to non-whites or the LGBT community? Thanks!
Well, if you checked Hispanic on any college application you probably would get the same sort of reaction from any university. I don’t know if there is any Latino Student Alliance or whatever at VT. IMHO I don’t think anyone is going to even think about you being Latino unless you are always talking in Spanish. You may not even speak Spanish for all I know. I think the diversity question is much more applicable for black students. There is an active Black Student Alliance at most universities because black students often represent a small portion of the student population.
I had to chuckle at your question because it’s not the first time I’ve heard that reaction from someone who is either part Latino or even with both parents fully Latino. Like…“what the heck is this all about? Or, I don’t want to deal with that B.S.”.
The LGBT question may be another thing. VT isn’t a super conservative dogmatic Christian college but it does draw students from all over Virginia. Some people may be less accepting than others but I’d guess it’s on par with the general population. I believe there are some LGBT clubs on campus and they would probably be the best source of information on this topic.
There’s an active LGBTA organization on campus (its called as HokiePRIDE) and a few Latino student organizations on campus (Latino American Student Organization, Latin Link, Society of Hispanic Engineers to name a few). Your personal experience may vary on how the campus environment is regarding “diversity”, but generally you’ll hear that the campus is pretty accepting and that there’s a place for everyone (whether it be for your race, your personal interests, your orientation, your major, whatever floats your boat).
I think they throw out the term “underrepresented” a lot to try to relate to students of color/minority backgrounds rather than in a negative way. I believe that Tech’s student population is generally reflective of the population of all of Virginia, so whatever % of people are Asian, Latino, African American in Virginia is the same % of students of that race at Tech.
I used to work with minority student groups and some diversity stuff on campus, so if you have more questions feel free to PM me!