<p>Schmaltz–don’t you think slowing down a classroom to the dumbest common denominator is counterproductive? Those mediocre and poor students may be a valuable addition to the dorm community, but they don’t belong in the same classroom with the geniuses. The MIT’s of the world are places for the super-smart to get even smarter.</p>
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<p>I don’t know what color the kids were who repeated this, but according to my kids, students in their high school referred to UCLA as “University of Caucasians Lost among Asians,” and UCI as “University of Chinese Immigrants.” Plenty of white kids in their school still attended UCLA and a couple went to UCI.</p>
<p>Chardo, have you ever seen Forrest Gump?</p>
<p>Yes I saw Gump. You think he could handle MIT?</p>
<p>“Momma always said a box of chocolates don’t have much diversity.”</p>
<p>Forest Gump</p>
<p>He did just fine at the U of Alabama.</p>
<p>But he wouldn’t like the statue of Coach Saban!</p>
<p>Wow – epiphany – snarky and personal. I was just explaining my reasoning and responding to the attack of introducing the word racist. Guess I’m off this thread.</p>
<p>I can’t speak for other parts of the country, but kids like mine who are raised in ethnically diverse communities do not discriminate based on race, if by race you mean outward physical characteristics. For this generation, it’s not the skin color, hair texture, eye shape or anything other physical trait which forms the basis of any discriminating thoughts or behavior. Why? Well for one reason we’re too much of a melting pot here to be able to even determine what race people belong to. My BIL is Hispanic but looks Filipino, my friend looks Chinese but claims she’s not–says she considers herself Canadian in every way, etc. I was at a loss as to how to answer to what race my S belonged when the census first asked me that question. I’m of one race, my H another, so what are my kids? </p>
<p>What students here might discriminate against are significant cultural differences–not mere appearances. That is why I posted earlier that it tends to matter how long the Asians in question have been in this country whether or not an “American” (whatever that even means anymore) non-Asian will feel comfortable surrounded by a majority of them.</p>
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<p>And I was just responding to your post, which discussed racism in very general terms. It’s not helpful when people (any posters) just throw that word out there like a suggestion (or in other cases a flame) without a context. I gave it context because I know you clearly understand context, whereas I’m not convinced that some others on this thread always do. (Some people tend to react emotionally, not intellectually, when faced with any discussion of politically loaded terms.) It’s important to define. It wasn’t meant as a criticism of you personally. I didn’t personalize it, except to affirm that I assume you do understand refinements, differences.</p>
<p>It’s actually generalizations and group accusations that are snarky.</p>
<p>^ clarifying:
Obviously racism, generally or specifically, is unacceptable. The problem is when one tries to assume what the intention or concern is from the person claiming a “diversity,” etc. reason for rejecting one school, choosing another. It may be quite the opposite of what is assumed it means.</p>
<p>Do the math. A college which represents close to 50 U.S. States + many add’l countries in its freshman class, is an environment which will make it much more likely that a student daily/weekly intefaces with a very diverse crowd in terms of personal origins, than a campus that has a tiny percentage of OOS, out of region, etc. students, not to mention racial/ethnic balance.</p>
<p>Well, I’ll be contrary and say that for particularly white-bread midwestern kids raised in non-Jewish areas, if schools like Tulane or Brandeis came on their radar screen, I think they need to be aware of the sensibilities and style they may find in schools that have a large Jewish population, and if they aren’t comfortable with that, they need to rethink those schools.</p>
<p>Oy, why do you single out Midwestern kids as being particularly unfamiliar with Jews? Ever been to Maine, Oregon, Utah, Kentucky, or Hawaii?</p>
<p>I wasn’t “singling out” midwestern kids, just giving an example.</p>
<p>Diversity is the spice of life.</p>
<p>I took PG’s meaning to be:</p>
<p>(1) Each campus has a distinct culture.
(2) (By extension) personal visits are rather important when making college decisions.</p>
<p>Note that a particular campus culture/feel transcends the “mere” makeup of the personal origins of the students, but would include it. Campuses with approximately the same percentage of [fill-in-the-blank ethnic/racial/geographical, etc.] composition as another campus, can nevertheless have distinctly different flavors from one another. Hence, UCLA and UCB, despite having similar percentages of Asian students (as one example of a very broad “group”) have recognizably different campus cultures/social environments. UCB is recognized by most as being more “nerdy” than UCLA (not to be confused with “smarter” 
). That still does not override the reality that public U student bodies inevitably reflect the composition of that State community, particularly not on the graduate level, and that some States have particularly non-diverse (non-broad) populations from which to draw their qualified freshman class. The combination of two factors – the mandate to prioritize State students, and the size of the student body population itself --will affect the ultimate social combinations/permutations for any incoming student. </p>
<p>A relatively small private U (compared to many State U’s) with a student body highly diversified on many factors will provide a different experience than a very large public U which is much less diversified on those same factors, for an undergrad. A smallish private U with a statistically significant, let alone dominant, sub-population will also produce a certain identity. That has nothing to do with stereotypes, racism, prejudice.</p>
<p>A campus culture and a social atmosphere are comprised of many factors: The personal origins of its students (race, religion, birthplace, etc.) are one important but not exclusively determinant factor. The history of that campus and the surrounding region is another significant and i.m.o. under-recognized factor. Despite how many people like to think of themselves as “coastal,” the West and East coasts are distinctly different in their social expectations, and within that, NJ is not NY, let alone NYC. And The South is an entirely different kettle of fish.</p>
<p>This has been an interesting thread. In a similar note, I just had a conversation with S and 2 of his friends about 2 mutual friends in high school who are Indian and only allowed to date and marry people with their same last names. One who is a boy is secretly dating a very white protestant girl. His parents have been known to follow him on the weekends. The other is a girl who will not go against her parents wishes. </p>
<p>I understand cultural/religious preferences. BTW, we are in that “entirely different kettle of fish” …the South.</p>
<p>Maybe they want diversity</p>
<p>It depends upon their reasoning.</p>
<p>If they don’t want a school with “too many Asians” because they mean they want a school that has a lot of ethnic diversity, and it’s apparent that the university isn’t attempting to (or is unable to) try and achieve more ethnic diversity, I don’t think that’s a racist reasoning regardless of race.</p>
<p>But if it’s for “personal comfort” reasons because they have stereotypes about what Asians are like or even what it means to be Asian, then yes, that’s racist. And it’s not just about “personal preference,” that’s simply a nice label to slap on stereotyping and prejudicing. If you have a “limited comfort zone” that involves avoiding being around people who are ethnically or racially different from you and being more at ease around people who are “just like you,” that’s called racism.</p>
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I don’t agree.
I think it’s natural to want to be around people like you. Are Jewish day schools anti-Christian? Are HBCUs anti-white?
I don’t want to go to a big southern state school b/c it would be culture shock. That doesn’t mean I have something against southerners, it just means I would feel more comfortable and fit in better with people who are culturally more similar to me.
Many Asians, too, have a different culture, especially if they or their parents are new arrivals in the US. And–precisely because they feel more comfortable with people who understand their culture–some of them will self-segregate, which can make a non-Asian have a tougher time socially. For instance, many Asian guys won’t date non-Asian girls. So a non-Asian girl might take that into account when considering a college with a high percentage of Asians.</p>
<p>And FWIW, I am white but I go to a public high school in CA that’s around 80% Asian. I know that the above is true from self experience. It’s not prejudice or stereotyping–it’s true that different ethnicities, including Asians, often self-segregate. Of course, there are kids who have friends of all different races, but also ones who tend to “stick to their own kind.” So I think it’s valid to consider the racial/ethnic make-up of a school.</p>