<p>I'm a indian american, grew up in southern california.
never really had much of a problem with diversity ever, but just wondering if you'd think i'd fit in at lehigh.
both my parents are of indian descent, i like to surf, listen to rock music, play guitar, play pretty much any sports.
i applied to lehigh because i want to major in premed and the social life is apparently great (lots of parties). it also has a beautiful campus.
so whats anyones take?</p>
<p>I think you’ll be alright. Lehigh is more diverse than you think.</p>
<p>Post election madness. Welcoming the new president with racists rants.
[Students</a>, faculty pack auditorium after racist acts at Lehigh - News](<a href=“http://media.www.thebrownandwhite.com/media/storage/paper1233/news/2008/11/10/News/Students.Faculty.Pack.Auditorium.After.Racist.Acts.At.Lehigh-3538813.shtml]Students”>http://media.www.thebrownandwhite.com/media/storage/paper1233/news/2008/11/10/News/Students.Faculty.Pack.Auditorium.After.Racist.Acts.At.Lehigh-3538813.shtml)</p>
<p>Manu, if you choose to participate in crap that causes issues, that is your problem, IMO.</p>
<p>Not my problem, I don’t attend Lehigh. I just thought it would be useful for the OP to read the opinion of actual Lehigh students writing in their own student newspaper. Much better than the second hand opinions that clog up these message boards. I think that students like the OP have a right to know what the campus culture is like at Lehigh before they comitt to living there for four years. Pretending that these incidents didn’t occur isn’t helpful to anyone.
As for the frat culture comment - I was just reacting to the recent article that Greek Week would be canceled because things got so out of control last year that the admin couldn’t risk allowing it take place again.
I respect Lehigh’s president. She’s trying to transform Lehigh into a more tolerant, intellectually focused institution that is respected for the quality of its faculty/teaching rather than being honored as the only LAC on Playboy’s list of ultimate party colleges. I’m sure she’ll make this happen but changes in campus culture take time. The new Liberal Arts college ( I don’t recall the name - Stone Mountain …) is definitely a step in the right direction.</p>
<p>Manu, relax, I wasn’t attacking you. Just making the point that the incident you mentioned wasn’t a campus-wide riot or anything.</p>
<p>I definitely agree that these incidents are unacceptable and need to be prevented. Things happen, but you don’t have to be involved in them.</p>
<p>Fair enough.
Peace.</p>
<p>I’ll add: Lehigh’s student body is not known for being diverse, but recent efforts by the administration seem to be improving the mix of students from different backgrounds/ethic groups. Until a critical mass of URMs is achieved, however, Lehigh might seem daunting to those who are not comfortable in a largely white community. Unfortunately, if URMs don’t attend, then Lehigh will remain somewhat homogenous. </p>
<p>I suggest talking to admissions about this. I think it’s a fantastic sign that students want to talk about racial and ethnic issues because it means that the campus culture is changing. I suggest that you visit (if you haven’t already) to make sure that you are comfortable.</p>
<p>As a point of reference, I chose to attend a college that was largely male. I decided that I wasn’t going to forgo an excellent education because the male students might not respect me. You know what? I arrived on campus to discover that the vocal (and infamous) misogynists were a minority. I simply avoided guys who thought I didn’t belong there. As a result, I had a wonderful education, was proud of being a (somewhat) pioneer, and absolutely loved my undergraduate years. </p>
<p>Trust your heart.</p>
<p>Lehigh’s rep for being dominated by right-leaning, fraternity loving, conservative white males from New Jersey and Long Island is well-deserved. My daughter who is biracial just couldn’t accept the college as a comfortable environment. Even when we visited during a Diversity Weekend, the current “diverse” students who were there as sort of “hosts” seemed oddly low key and subdued. They were not excited about the college. Particularly the black students. We got one of them aside in a private corner and she confessed she came to Lehigh only because they offered her more money than God if she would go there. She was satisfied with the academics but miserable socially. Let’s just say these kids did not appear enthusiastic about their decision to enroll. The smiles seemed almost forced. We left with my D wondering why she had even applied to the school.</p>
<p>That said, Asian Indian (I’m assuming Asian Indian because the OP did not specify Native American Indian) students may have a different experience. A lot of Asian kids come to campus focusing more on academics than partying or politics and do just fine. But one word of reality to the OP: This isn’t California. There are less accepting attitudes on the social side of things because the white students at Lehigh lean conservative. The problem for the university is they draw a huge percentage of their white applicants from the same high schools and towns every year, so they’re getting the same type of kid who is immediately indoctrinated by upperclassman who they knew back at their old high school or neighborhood in New Jersey and Long Island. It’s a self-perpetuating cycle, which is not unusual. Colleges and universities tend to attract “types” because of the cultural reputation of the academic institution. The white kid who finds Oberlin attractive is unlikely to consider Lehigh attractive, and vice versa. The former has ZERO frats, the latter is dominated by them. The former is ultra-liberal, the latter certainly leans conservative in students’ political attitudes. </p>
<p>You can’t just look for a “party” school, if that interests you. You have to consider campus political culture too. </p>
<p>My D has grown up in upper middle class, white environments. In fact, all of her friends are white, as was her Prom date. However, those environments were liberal, tolerant white environments. After two visits to Lehigh and a lot of research about the “problems” on campus, she realized Lehigh is dominated by white kids who have different attitudes toward people of color than what she is used to. Nuff said.</p>
<p>I agree with Manu123 about Lehigh’s social issues. I also join MomWaitingfornew in applauding the university’s desire to “improve” the environment for diversity. However, it is axiomatic that if you can’t change the people, then you have to change the people. They’ve got to stop accepting the same type of kids from the same towns, many of whom seem uninterested in “diversity” or “tolerance.” How do you do that? First step is to get rid of the Greek system. Abolish it totally. Then accept higher percentages of females. As a group, white females tend to be more tolerant than white males. The hard-drinking, frat loving kids will stop applying to the school and you can begin attracting a different type, a more tolerant type of kid. Kill the “party” rep, alter the gender balance, and you’ll change the campus environment.</p>
<p>Why should the school radically change the culture. The culture is just as significant at Lehigh as it is at Oberlin and they have their distinct niches. You may not like the Lehigh culture,but that is why you are free to go where you choose. </p>
<p>Also why do you consider “conservative” to be associated with racism and certain attitudes? Conservative is a political philisophy that espouses limited government and financial prudence. I understand the media has bastardized the term, but people like you who use conservative as a synonym for racism or eliticism are misguided.</p>
<p>I agree that ‘conservatism’ is not synonymous with racist or elitist. But I view both conservatism and racism negatively. Why? Every advance for equality made in this country’s history was accomplished because of liberalism. The abolitionists were the liberals of their day. The conservatives were the status quo seekers, the sustainers of the profitable slavery system. Women getting the right to vote—liberals. Desegregation, symbolized by Brown v. Bd of Education, a product of a LIBERAL U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice’s efforts. The 1964 Civil Rights Act was signed by a U.S. President who was called a liberal by conservatives in Congress who OPPOSED simple equality for Americans. The Civil Rights movement was led by liberals of every color. The current efforts to abolish the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy and to defeat marriage discrimination against Gays and Lesbians, again are being led by liberals. I can’t think of a single initiative intended to bring equality to America or to remedy generations of terrible discrimination that was not opposed by self-described conservatives. </p>
<p>The reason for changing the culture is because the current one is not conducive to increasing racial diversity on campus. The more the Lehigh environment is viewed as intolerant of diversity, the more difficult it will be to increase diversity. Why would you want to go where you get the distinct impression people like you are not welcome? Rightly or wrongly, to a degree, perception then becomes reality. </p>
<p>So, if the goal of the administration is greater diversity, they have no choice but to do something to make the culture more inclusive. Right now the Lehigh culture is not inclusive. If a reputation as inhospitable to minorities is okay with you, then I guess there is no reason to radically change the culture. You can’t say with any degree of honesty that you are interested in diversity but at the same time refuse to change a culture that makes achieving greater diversity almost impossible.</p>
<p>It is your opinion that minorites are not welcome at Lehigh, and frankly you have no evidence that your statement is true. You spoke with one or two people, and they could have been miserable because they are just unhappy folks. Certainly racist people exist at Lehigh, just as they do everywhere, but I see no evidence that Lehigh has a culture of racism. If anything Lehigh has a higher than average male population (due to male dominated majors like engineering) and young males tend to do more stupid things than young women.</p>
<p>You also seem to have extreme prejudice against young white males from North Jersey and LI. So who exactly is displaying the racism here?</p>
<p>I live only 16 miles from Lehigh. I’m quite familiar with it. I pass by the campus twice a day on my way to and from work. During the presidential campaign, Lehigh was the only school in this area that entertained John McCain and Sarah Palin instead of Barack Obama and Joe Biden. That was their choice, but don’t tell me that doesn’t say something about the dominant attitude on campus. It was also the only college I heard of at which white students yelled racial epithets at black students on campus after the election was over.</p>
<p>Obviously, there are many white kids at Lehigh who despise racists and racism. And I don’t believe Lehigh has a “culture of racism.” I think it has a culture of boorish, in-crowd, out-crowd behavior which results in some nastiness toward the out-crowd that, unfortunately, is most visibly represented by minorities. The Greek scene at Lehigh feeds this behavior.</p>
<p>The Lehigh Greek scene tends to ATTRACT some of the wrong kinds of kids to the school. It’s out of control. Get rid of the Greek scene and the bigots will enroll somewhere else. It’s about time the administration acted. Shutting down Greek week is not enough but it’s a start.</p>
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<p>This isn’t entirely true. I also live in the area, and Lehigh made it clear that they were not sponsoring or supporting the political rally at Stabler Arena – or any other political candidates. The McCain/Palin campaign rented Stabler as one of the few local venues that would fit large crowds. (FWIW, I don’t think they got the crowds they expected.)</p>
<p>Lehigh is probably more conservative than most universities, something I attribute to the strong reputation for engineering and business, two professions which are historically conservative. (Note: I’m not saying all engineers and business people are conservatives.) But remember that conservatism is relative in institutions of higher education, which tend to be much more liberal than average America.</p>
<p>As for racism, it exists, just as it does everywhere. On campus, the administration and the faculty have zero tolerance for it, and I suspect the majority of the students feel the same. In recent years, there has been increased sensitivity and dialogue about racism, religious intolerance, homophobia, and gender bias. As a result, the campus culture is changing.</p>
<p>A few years ago, I wouldn’t have agreed with the assessment that the Greek system is detrimental to academic life, especially since I attended the college that “Animal House” was largely based on. 
However, at schools where the primary reason for joining frats/sororities is to party, Greeks have a decidedly anti-intellectual effect. Enough students miss class or arrive still partially intoxicated or are too tired from partying to think that it affects ALL the students of smaller, discussion-based classes. It certainly affects the students in question, even in larger lectures. Most universities with a strong Greek system sees this effect during rush and afterward, with the freshmen (or sophomores, if that’s when rush occurs) suffering the most. Some come close to failing out despite good grades prior to rush because the emphasis in their lives switch from academics to social life.</p>
<p>Not everything about fraternities and sororities is bad. Some do community outreach projects that really make a difference. And camaraderie does a lot for self-confidence and future connections. </p>
<p>I do think there is a link between heavy drinking and racist/homophobic attacks. Especially among young men, you can get a group mentality, with lowered inhibitions and a need to prove superiority to those outside the group. People say things they don’t mean (or mean, but would never say) simply to “impress” others. Does this happen at Lehigh? Occasionally. But not often. Unfortunately, all it takes is one incident for a minority or gay or female or Muslim student to feel violated.</p>
<p>But it would be completely wrong to categorize Lehigh students as a bunch of drunken guys going around in packs and insulting anyone not like them. Most students are hard-working, intelligent, engaged young adults.</p>
<p>The Lehigh Greek scene is what makes Lehigh great! The Greek system is what attracts the most well rounded top students. Nobody is forcing anybody to attend Lehigh especially at $50,000 a year.</p>
<p>Yes, the Greeks make the Lehigh experience for a large portion of the students, but balance is needed. Most students can handle the combination of academics and Greek life; however, there is a portion that cannot – and that’s what devolves into the infamous element that turns some potential students away. The administration has been cracking down on abuses (even before the current president), and I think it’s a wonderful thing. </p>
<p>Lehigh will never get rid of fraternities and sororities, so never fear. The academic environment would be much better if they weren’t quite so dominant.</p>