That was a thoughtful response, Wilshire: you sound like a very mature person to me.
I’m sorry that your son feels this way about Elon…having recently graduated from there, yes, partying is a big part of the school culture. However, as someone who rarely “goes out” and does not drink at said parties anyway, I never once felt ostracized or left out.
The key is really to just find people with similar interests…I lived with people who were in Greek life, but chose to stay home most weekends to watch movies or play board games.
I’m also a minority…and honestly I never once felt unsafe or unappreciated. Would I have appreciated seeing more diversity? Yes, but I never felt discriminated against.
I don’t know that it’s fair to assume that students having a “good time” aren’t academically focused. I enjoyed my time and graduated with high honors. To assume all students are party animals in grossly incorrect. I know of many students who threw clean parties and didn’t embrace that lifestyle.
Writerjane15, I am so happy to hear you had a good experience at Elon. I wish it had been the same for my daughter, who chose to leave after a year.
WriterJane15- Congrats on embracing all that Elon had to offer. Its no wonder you excelled. Good luck in your future endeavors.
Racial incidents keep happening at Elon. By my count, this is at least the second or third “slurs” incident since January. This school has a problem. http://elonlocalnews.com/2015/04/racial-slur-incident-sparks-conversation-about-inclusivity-on-campus/
And this. http://youtu.be/-nIkO7hTs3Y
we only know about these incidents because the backlash was so huge. there are racist people everywhere, and the elon administration and most of the student body is extremely vocal about ending racial bias.
BlueRoses - your daughter transferred out - why so obsessed with the poor behavior of a few students? Elon administration is taking it seriously. The overall student body condemns these acts. You seem to have such an axe to grind. You no longer have a student enrolled at Elon. Perhaps it is time for you to move on.
Some more info on steps being taken by the Elon administration:
http://www.thetimesnews.com/opinion/our-opinion/elon-tackles-racism-on-campus-head-on-1.477582
My 2 daughters decision to attend Elon was the best decision they could have made. Sure there are idiots there, just like at every school and workplace, but the vast majority of kids at Elon are caring and respectful citizens. I am proud to be an Elon parent and can’t imagine a better place.
I have no doubt that the administration at Elon is doing all that is humanly possible and I commend them for it. The people that my daughter dealt with when she reported an incident that happened to her were nothing short of lovely and amazing. What concerns me is that individual students don’t seem to take responsibility to intervene and stop these things when they happen and as they happen. Yes, after an incident of racism reaches the public eye (via an email from the president or other administrator, or an article in The Pendulum, some students (admirably) take it upon themselves to protest, to have other students sign petitions and such at College Coffee. But on an individual level (at least from my daughter’s experience), very few students will step up when they see an incident of bigotry and ignorance happening and stop it. Example: another student (white boy) called my daughter’s former BF (who is Black) the “n” word in the dorm hallway and other students were around and heard it. Not a single one stepped up to say to the white kid “Hey, that’s not OK. We don’t tolerate that kind of BS here.” I do believe, as rockvillemom said, that most (the overwhelming majority) of kids at Elon are great young people. However, I do think that Elon should consider doing as other schools are doing/have done, and that is providing something some places call “bystander intervention” training, which helps kids learn strategies for shutting down acts of discrimination and bullying when they observe it. A number of studies have shown that this stuff is very effective, but kids have to be given the tools to do it. Here is a link to a page from Indiana University Bloomington about this: http://studentaffairs.indiana.edu/dean-students/culture-care.shtml
As a current student I would like to try to set the record straight on a few of these claims. Are all students party animals? Absolutely not. As has been said before, those who drink and party may get the most attention, while those participating in clubs, research, discussion groups and lectures will be less of the gossip among students. This is NOT unique to Elon. Another thing to note is that kids can go a little crazy freshman year. Their workload is generally light and they want to “make the most” of college. Drinking and partying tends to go down as students progress through the years because they have more work to do, maturity, etc. And again to set the record straight, Festivus is ONE DAY a year where the whole school gets together for a celebration in an off campus neighborhood (not fraternity hosted). UVA has Foxfield. Providence College has the Golf Party. I could go on and on, point is almost every school has this “once a year” mass celebration. Nobody is forced to attend…
Is Elon racist? No. 99.9% of the student population is highly tolerant, friendly, and completely accepting. Unfortunately, the actions of 1 or 2 bad eggs lead to the reputation that somehow the whole school is racist and hostile. This couldn’t be further from the truth. The administration goes to unbelievable lengths to ensure justice is served when these events occur. In fact, in both instances this year, the students were caught on camera and prosecuted accordingly. Again, you can find a couple bad students at ANY university, from Elon to Harvard it doesn’t matter. As a whole, I believe Elon is well above par when it comes to these matters.
Elon is a fantastic school and I would encourage any prospective student to go. The quality of life is unparalleled here, and the connections I’ve made, as well as the job I’ve now ended up, could not be better for me. No school is a perfect fit for every student, but please don’t let one negative experience cloud your view of such an amazing school. 90% of students will come back for their sophomore year, that is one of the highest rates in the country. It should speak to the fact that negative experiences are in a very small minority, and that in general, Elon is a fantastic place to be.
Fabulous idea! I love this. I am going to forward to my son to suggest it as a fraternity program.
SanFran563, are you a student of color?
Rockvillemom, that is a terrific idea! I think that having folks in Greek Life take this on is great! Keep me posted.
There was an entire thread about Binghamton University bullying but it got removed. Bullying seems to be an issue at some school.