Hi, I was recently admitted to Michigan LSA and it’s one of my top choices at the moment (for academic reasons). However, one of the things that concerns me about the school is diversity and inclusion. Yes, I know that there are students from all over the country and the world, but there’s a difference between having a diverse group of students and having a student body that is /inclusive/ and genuinely accepting of everyone. I’ve had a few conversations about this and people seem to use the “but Michigan has plenty of multicultural organizations” argument which I don’t think is valid because any university is going to have multicultural organizations. I’m talking about the atmosphere and vibe of the school — things that can’t be justified or explained with statistics.
There are a few reasons why I suspect that Michigan is not as inclusive as some of its peer institutions:
Location: Michigan is not the most diverse state, and a pretty significant portion of students are in-state (I know the in-state percentage at Michigan is lower than most state schools, though).
Greek life: The participation rate itself is pretty low, but if you look at the frats and sororities, they are almost all white. Compare to, say, Hopkins or Northwestern. Their Greek organizations have a variety of people in terms of race and appearance. Can’t say the same for Michigan from what I’ve seen.
Sports: Football (and sports culture in general) are very ‘American’ — not saying that minorities can’t participate in/enjoy them, but you know what I mean.
Thoughts, anyone? Michigan is a fantastic school and I don’t mean to degrade it, but I want to make sure I’m not jumping to conclusions or making false assumptions.
Thank you!
First, the student body contributes far more than the location. Half of the students are from OOS and overseas which is among the highest in public university.
Second, Greek life is not that important for most students anyway.
Third, there are all kind of sports strength at UMich although Football and basketball always get more attention. Swimming, figure skating, ice dance, and many more are also ranked among the top of the nation. It is more about ability than race. So I don’t really know what you mean. Perhaps you are thinking about table tennis or badminton but those never get much attention in this country anyway.
@billcsho No, table tennis and badminton didn’t even cross my mind actually, and it seems like you’re assuming that I’m international — I’m not…I’m from Chicago. I just happen to highly value diversity and I’m hoping to go to a college that will feel like a melting pot.
People in Michigan are not biased to in-state kids in terms of who they want to hang out with. Yeah half the kids are in-state, but no one knows anyone. Even the most popular kids out of high school are only going to know 100 kids max out of the entering class (which will be around 6000). So essentially everyone starts out fresh, so there won't be any exclusiveness based upon where you're from.
Saying that greek life at UMich is exclusively white is quite far from the truth. There are many multicultural frats (Asian, Latino, African American, etc.) as well as professional frats (engineering, pre-med, business, etc.), which are for the most part, fairly diverse and represent the population of UMich in general. Also, even if Greek Life was for mainly white people, what difference does it make? Especially being in the north in a fairly liberal environment, I find it hard to believe that you'd find a place anywhere where you'd be discriminated against just because of your race.
Not everyone cares about football. The benefit of such a huge campus is that you are welcome to love whatever sports you want. Once again, no one is going to discriminate against you just because you don't like football.
If we are looking at diversity from the standpoint of race, well sure UMich is not as diverse as Northwestern (~30% of people at UMich are of color as opposed to ~45% at NW). But to think that diversity only extends to the color of your skin and that in turn tells you about the acceptingness of the people at that University is quite ridiculous
Like I said, multicultural organizations (including Greek organizations) exist at any university. I am stressing integration.
If non-multicultural/professional frats are almost all white, it actually does matter…fraternities and sororities are exclusive social organizations (unless you’re talking about professional ones) where members choose who to accept based on whatever factors they want to consider. I doubt anyone means to intentionally exclude minorities, but this does show that there is at least a subtle racial bias. It’s no secret that Greek life tends to perpetuate racial segregation.
You might not see blatant discrimination in the context of race, football culture, etc., but again, like I said, this is about subtleties that are indicative of the school’s culture.
Obviously, students have the freedom to do what they want, but that doesn’t eliminate the social pressure to, for example, go to tailgates and games. Even if you find people who are similar to you, that won’t necessarily get rid of pressure simply because Michigan’s social life revolves around it.
Not trying to start an argument — I just wanted to clarify what I was trying to say because some of it was misinterpreted.
@elc2435 It’s more so that a lot of minorities don’t even attempt to rush social fraternities. It’s not because they are purposefully being excluded. Honestly if a fraternity/sorority chooses to reject a potential brother, it will always be due to a personality distinction. You wanted students’ opinions on the university, and you have mine. I understand what you’re trying to say now, but quite frankly it just does not exist to a degree at which it affects the culture here at UMich. This campus is just way too liberal to have stuff like subtle discrimination to that degree.
I would have to agree with @hailbate as well. Michigan is extremely liberal, pro-equal rights, and accepting of diversities and differences. I’m sure you could find liberal arts schools or smaller schools that are even more accepting, but I would be surprised if many other schools of Michigan’s size that can rival it in its accepting ways.
However, Michigan, like every other university, will have it’s share of students that are not as accepting and unfortunately won’t give diversity a chance. Thankfully at Michigan these students make up a far minority and overall students will be very open about inclusion.
You’re likely right about greek life being majorty white, however that often does not mean that they aren’t accepting of diverse people (Although some may be. Just avoid those ones). I would agree that it’s mainly because white people make up the vast majority of people rushing greek life. I wouldn’t be too worried about it though. Only around 20% of students are part of greek life. Feel free to rush if you’re interested but if you’re not there’s always something for you.
As for sports, UofM does have a pretty big football culture, but other sports are really only popular with people who are into the sports. Around 14000 student section football tickets are sold, which I assume makes up around 50% of undergraduate students (and not all of them go to every game). So even on game-days, at least half of students are not typically at the games and are just doing their own thing (although some may just watch the games). I see what you’re saying, but I feel that those who find disinterest in football won’t have too big of a problem ignoring it and finding others who share their own interests.
In terms of numbers, a very small percentage (4%) of the student body is African American (if that’s important to you). The state of Michigan has outlawed racial preferences in admissions. However, the current president is proactively trying to recruit more applications from black in-state students through targeted programs.
I don’t know what you mean when you say that the state is not diverse. 14% of the population of the state of Michigan is African American, which is about representative of the country as a whole. Also, the state of Michigan has the largest population of Arabic-speaking individuals and people of Arab-American heritage in the U.S., centered around Dearborn and Sterling Heights.
Diversity goes far beyond racial and ethnic categorization. Most important in a university setting IMO is diversity of thought. You won’t have your worldview expanded much if the people you interact with are superficially diverse but monolithic inside. Real growth comes from interacting with people who have opinions very different from your own. A comfortable non-challenging environment is nice but it allows people to avoid the large swaths of intellectual landscape that are foreign to their preconceived ideas. Not what a university is really for.
as stated: “Michigan is extremely liberal, pro-equal rights, and accepting of diversities and differences.”
given the law of large numbers, I’m not sure you’ll find some sort of synoptic vibe…you state a preference for not summarizing the campus by number of multicultural organizations, but that is one of the markers of diversity;
most of the folks at Michigan are pretty driven and self-directed people who are at Michigan to learn; most of your hours will be learning and studying (one hopes) such that looking for that vibe will be, maybe, your second priority;
you don’t go to a school like Michigan to find a cocoon, you go there to get the full megillah;
whether you are left or right of center, you are going to think 25% of the population is part of the lunatic fringe, again law of large numbers, you can be prepared to not like certain people, that is all part of the prequel to your life where you move to some city where you also dislike 25% of the people;
the good news is that you will like 75% of the people that you meet (c.f., point #5);
just go for and live it, don’t try to predetermine it: man plans and God laughs. Be prepared to live both parts of that puzzle wherever you go.
Yes, diversity of thought is important, and exposure to/interaction with people with a different perspective is becoming less common on college campuses, as well as society in general. I would also agree with earlier posters who note that diversity statistics can be deceiving, if the various ethnic/racial/interest groups keep to themselves on campus. The “dining hall test” is a good one to assess campus diversity at Michigan and elsewhere. Do different types of people share a meal together, or are the Asian-Americans at one table, African-Americans at another, athletes at third, white, suburban students at the fourth, etc?
I’m a student at Michigan and although I love it, honestly diversity is an issue here that the university is very slowly improving on. Greek Life is literal white bread but is falling apart at the seams currently as Pres Schlissel attacks the system. Nearly everyone goes out for football games and season, it’s a blast seeing everyone come together as a student body. Michigan is unique in that there’s seriously dozens/hundreds of multicultural groups on campus, mainly because how huge the school is, so finding an organization that you enjoy would be easier here than at a smaller school just because of the sheer number of organizations.
A few comments on the points raised - Michigan is not the most diverse state, but Ann Arbor is one of the most diverse towns. Townies will identify you as ‘student’ by your willful disregard of pedestrian crossings, uniform of jeans and t-shirts with college logos, intense expressions and overall crazed enthusiasm of all things Michigan.
Black enrollment dropped suddenly to 4% some years ago with the introduction of ‘two or more races’ category. This also coincided with the downward spiral at DPS. At the same time Asian and Hispanic enrollment has risen. The predominant hair color has changed from blonde and brown 30 years ago to black today. You will not see the same color spectrum at Michigan as private schools because race is a factor in admissions. Isn’t that a good thing?
Your friends will be of all races. That was true 30 years ago, and it is even more so now. If you are coming from HS you have no idea how liberating it is to be surrounded by people who are as intelligent (or more) than you.
Sports: Everybody who wants to can participate in club and IM sports, and be fans for varsity sports cheering on their classmates. The quality and variety is just great. The music and theatre performances are outstanding.
Some of the smartest and most dynamic people on the planet teach and attend UM. That is where the real diversity lies - thought, approach, attitude. The surface stuff doesn’t matter much.
As far as Greek life, join the ones you like best. It’s a small part of social life anyway.
@TooOld4School Can you elaborate a bit regarding “how liberating it is to be surrounded by people who are as intelligent (or more) than you”? It seems terrifying going from top in your class to possibly lower 25%. You’re competing for jobs with your smarter classmates. Also I keep reading about the high drop out rate for the lower part of the class in these very smart environments. Even though you’re smarter than 90% of the nation, if you feel dumb among your peers, there’s a higher chance of dropping to an easier major.