Hey guys I’m an Indian dude from New England who is an incoming freshman to Vandy. Any Indians guys who fit in with the Vandy mainstream or were you pigeonholed into all Indian cliques? Any racism? Thanks for advice in advance.
Hopefully an Indian student will chime in, but of all non-Caucasian ethnicities, Indian students seem to me the most prevalent in fraternities. I’ve never seen evidence of any Indian cliques or “self-segregation” as seen/discussed on another topic here regarding eastern Asian students.
Indian guy at Vandy here. There’s no pigeonholing here and Indian students are probably one of the most integrated minorities. The Vandy mainstream are the fraternities. If you’re into greek life, Vandy is the place for you. If not, I’d really consider other options. I wouldn’t say it’s racist place at all.
Indians are anthropologically Caucasian…just to be exact.
But we are grouped as Asians.
Indian cliques?
I find that Indians tend to self-separate into their own backgrounds, since India has many languages and cultures. I worked with a guy who was Brahmin and merchant class, and he did not get along at all with a Gujarati girl in our group. It was like they were from totally different countries (they were both from India, him from Lucknow, her from a village in Gujarat).
I would say, from my own personal experience of being part Asian and dark-skinned, it will be easier for a light-skinned Asian with no accent than a dark-skinned Asian or than a person with a heavy accent.
One of the popular classes where I teach college (not Vandy) is accent reduction. Even some first-generation American citizens like my dad could use that.
“He” from Lucknow, “She” from a village in…
Glad you don’t teach at Vanderbilt!
Not Indian, but a lot of my friends at vandy are Indian or of Indian origin. I have not found there to be any racism directed toward Indians. From my experience that group of “non-whites” is probably the most main stream / integrated of all of the different racial groups on campus.
Between “You are not the race you think you are!” and “I like relate unnecessary grammatical corrections to snarky career jabs!” you really know how to make yourself likable, Oliver.
Ditto, bodangles…where was your license to snarkiness issued?