diversity

<p>I’ve read that Bates has an ethnic population of around 10%, and I was wondering if the campus is accepting of these minorities? While reading other college discussion sites, I’ve gathered small schools with low ethnic populations can feel rather intolerant or homogeneous. I hope this isn’t true for Bates. Any comments would be very much appreciated. Thanks!</p>

<p>Sorry for being anal here, but do you know exactly how the source of that information defines "ethnic"? Being from a different country, I always thought of myself as "ethnic" (i.e. not white American, although this is genralization as well), but when I told this to a friend she dismissed my claims because I am (in her words) "as white as they come". What I am trying to get at is that some students take "ethnic" to mean non-white, some take it to mean non-American, and others understand it as non-white non-American, etc.</p>

<p>If I am indeed included in Bates' ethnic minority pool, I would like to assure you that I have found the student body at large rather tolerant. There will be a few jerks wherever you go, but even Bates' jerks are pretty decent (compared to jerks I have come across elsewhere).</p>

<p>If you are interested in learning how non-white students perceive Bates' atmosphere, you might want to specify that more clearly. I will not contribute to that discussion since I am obviously not in a position where I can address the racial minority perspective. However, in general, Bates is a very friendly and open community where students from all over the world get together and enjoy each other's company.</p>

<p>Sorry for being unclear, but I meant ethnic as in: the (I guess American since I wouldn't be an international student) non white population at Bates. I was just worried about how minorities might be treated after reading a few of the posts on Bowdoin's page. Thanks.</p>

<p>Though Bates has a really low percentage of "ethnic" students, and the student body does tend to be pretty homogenous, minorities aren't treated differently. Most Batesies are pretty open and accepting, and I think the lack of diversity has less to do with the students themselves and more to do with ethnic students making assumptions of what Batesies are like based on that percentage and then not applying.</p>

<p>My best friend is a student of Peruvian origin who applied to Bates and got in this past year. She opted not to go, however, due in part to the lack of minority students (she's going to Dickinson instead). According to my friend, the student guide who she had at Bates told her that it was fine to be a minority at Bates; you just had to be "confident enough to handle being in the minority."</p>

<p>So yeah, based on my friend's thoughts about Bates and her experiences in making her decision, I'd say if being around students of a similar ethnicity is something you're looking for in college, Bates might not be the best place for you. However, if that doesn't bother you so much, it's a fantastic school and minorities are by no means excluded or treated differently than another other student.</p>

<p>I am a current Bates student and I have a lot of friends who are minorities. None of them feel that they are treated an differently, and Bates is also trying right now to bring in a much higher percentage of minority students</p>